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Kansas State Capitol, May, 1899. 








A HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


BY 

Noble L. Prentis, 

II 

of the “ Kansas City Star.” 


Published by E. P. Greer. 

WINFIELD, KAN. 

1899. 



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COpy% 


Copyright, 1899, 

BY 

NOBLE L. PRENTIS 
Kansas City, Mo. 

TWO OOrtefc KEceive 


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PREFACE. 


The attempt has been made, in preparing this 
volume, to give, within a convenient compass, the 
most interesting and material occurrences and events 
in the history of the rise of a great Free State from a 
wilderness. Harrowing details and discreditable 
happenings have been purposely omitted. 

The story has been told as a record of courage and 
steadfastness, and increasing devotion to the princi¬ 
ples of human freedom and national union. 

Events have been arranged, as nearly as possible, 
in the order of the years, with an occasional arrange¬ 
ment of the years in periods or groups, with no 
further classification or subdivision. 

No attempt has been made to “write down” to the 
supposed intellectual capacity of children. Students 
old enough to enter upon the study of the history 
of an American State, it is believed, will find all the 
statements and conclusions comprehensible. 


6 


PREFACE. 


It is to be hoped that the reader or student will 
consider this small and necessarily limited history 
of one State, as a help and introduction to the study 
of the history of the American Union, which should 
be the pride and privilege of every American citizen 
in youth and age. 


NOBLE L. PRENTIS. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Natural Kansas. 9 

II. French and Spanish Kansas. 12 

III. The Discovered Country .. 15 

IV. The Great Highway. 24 

V. The Indian Territory. 31 

VI. The Kansas-Nebraska Act. 41 

VII. The Beginning of Government. 49 

VIII. War and Rumors of War. 58 

IX. A Glimpse of Light. 65 

X. The Lecompton and Leavenworth Constitu¬ 
tional Conventions. 69 

XI. Events of 1858 . 73 

XII. The Wyandotte Constitutional Convention. 77 

XIII. The Tragedy of John Brown. 82 

XIV. Last of Territory and First of State ... 87 

XV. The First Legislature. 93 

XVI. Cradled in War. 96 

XVII. Quantrell’s Raid.105 

XVIII. The Closing Scene.110 

XIX. Peace and Honor.120 

XX. Building the State.123 

XXI. The Indian Wars.133 

XXII. Immigration.140 

XXIII. The Centennial Year. 150 

XXIV. Events of the Decade.156 


7 
























8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXV. After Twenty-Five Years.164 

XXVI. The Happenings of 1887 . 174 

XXVII. A Prosperous Year.180 

XXVIII. 1889.—The Developing Resources.188 

XXIX. Kansas and Oklahoma.194 

XXX New Political Forces.198 

XXXI. The Legislature and Chronicles of 1891 . 205 

XXXII. Annals of 1892 . 216 

XXXIII. Legislation and Other Events of 1893 . . . 220 

XXXIV. Passing of the Pioneers.231 

XXXV. The Story of 1895-96 . 240 

XXXVI. The Years 1897 and 1898 . 248 

XXXVII. Kansas in the War .256 

XXXVIII. Events of 1899 .. ... 271 

XXXIX. A Chapter on Capitols. 277 

XL. Man and Nature.283 

XLI. Kansas Literature.291 

APPENDIX. 

Description of Counties.301 

Organic Act.326 

Admission Into the Union.332 

Constitution. 336 

Kansas Territorial Officers—1854-1861 .. 362 

State Officers of Kansas—1861-1899 . 363 

Kansas in the Spanish War.369 

























A HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


CHAPTER I. 

NATURAL KANSAS. 

1. Character of Surface. —Kansas has been described 
by geologists as a part of the great plain stretching from 
the Mississippi river on the east to the Rocky Mountains on 
the west. It is approximately 200 by 400 miles in extent, 
and should be looked upon as a block in the great plain, 
constituting an essential part of it, and not specially differ¬ 
ent from other portions lying on either side of it. The 
average elevation above sea level of the eastern end is about 
850 feet, with Bonita, 1,075 feet above, as the highest point, 
and the Union Depot at Kansas City, 750 feet, the lowest. 
The northern boundary line rises steadily and uniformly 
westward from the Missouri river. The southern boundary 
rises and falls. At Coffeyville, the elevation is 734 feet, six¬ 
teen feet lower than at Kansas City. At the point of crossing 
the Flint Hills west of Independence, the elevation is 1,700 
feet, declining to the westward. The elevation at Arkansas 
City is 1,066 feet. The lowest part of the State is where 
the southern line crosses the Verdigris valley. From 
Arkansas City, west, the ascent is gradual to the southwest 
corner. The western boundary varies slightly from north to 
south, but is between 3,500 and 4,000 feet above sea level. 

2. Appearance to Observer. —The general effect is 
that of an immense prairie, rising westward into a very high 
prairie, but the appearance is not that of a flat and bound¬ 
less plain. The waters of the State, which generally flow 
eastward, have an average fall for the whole State of nearly 

9 



10 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


eight feet to the mile. Although the surface is a great 
plain sloping eastward, its minute topography is often 
rugged and varied; valleys 200 feet deep, bluffs and mounds 
with precipitous walls 300 feet high; overhanging rocky 
ledges and remnants of cataracts and falls in numerous 



Scene on the Marmaton, Bourbon Co., Kan. 


streams, giving a variety of scenery, are to be observed all 
over the eastern part of the State, and to even a greater 
extent in some portions of the west. 

3. Effect on Kansas Literature.— All the natural fea¬ 
tures of this great rectangle; all the varying aspects of the 
earth, as touched by the shaping hands of the seasons; all 














NATURAL KANSAS. 


11 


the shifting panorama of the skies; all the myriad voices 
of the winds; the shine of shallow, wide and wandering 
streams; the fringing trees that watch the waters as they 
pass; the lovely charm of each rocky promontory that looks 
out upon the sea of grass, all these have proved to be the 
inspiring and informing spirit of Kansas literature. 

4. Story of Kansas Nature Told in Prose and Verse.— 

In all that has been written in prose and verse since first 
the wide wilderness heard the cautious but advancing feet 
of the pioneer, the story of Kansas nature has been told. 
The reader of books written in, by, and for Kansas, will 
find the journals of the Kansas year, with the impressions 
made on the minds and hearts of eye-witnesses by sun and 
cloud, by drouth and rain, and calm and storm. Such 
readers witness the procession of the days of the Kansas 
year. Days when, as one has written, “the broad, wintry 
landscape is flooded with that indescribable splendor that 
never was on sea or shore—a purple silken softness that 
half veils half discloses the alien horizon, the vast curves 
of the remote river, the transient architecture of the clouds, 
and days without clouds and nights without dew, when the 
effulgent sun floods the dome with fierce and blinding radi¬ 
ance, days of glittering leaves and burnished blades of corn, 
days when the transparent air, purged of all earthly exhala¬ 
tion and alloy, seems like a pure, powerful lens, revealing a 
remoter horizon and a profounder sky.” 

SUMMARY. 

1. In the north the surface rises uniformly from Missouri river, 

while in the south it both rises and falls. 

2. To an observer the surface is rugged and varied, and remnants 

of cataracts are found. 


CHAPTER II. 


FRENCH AND SPANISH KANSAS. 

5. Kansas in Louisiana Purchase.— The present State 
of Kansas, with the exception of a small fraction in the 
southwest corner, which continued to belong to Spain, then 
to Mexico, and was finally ceded by Texas in 1850, formed 
part of the Louisiana purchase made by President Thomas 
Jefferson from Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France. 

6. Beginning of Political History.— The political his¬ 
tory of Kansas was set in the way of 
beginning on the April day in 1803, 
when Napoleon said, with passion and 
vehemence, as was his wont: ‘ ‘Irresolu¬ 
tion and deliberation are no longer in 
reason. It is not only New Orleans that 
I will cede, it is the whole colony with¬ 
out reservation.’’ 

7. United States Occupies Terri¬ 
tory. — The treaty which made Kansas 
American soil was concluded April 30, 1803, but St. Louis, 
and the province of Upper Louisiana, remained in the hands 
of the Spanish until March 9, 1804, nearly a year after. On 
that day Major Amos Stoddard, of the United States army, 
appeared at St. Louis, and acting as agent and commissary 
of the French Republic, received from Don Carlos Dehault 
Delassus, the Spanish Lieutenant-Governor, the formal 
cession of the province from Spain to France. The Spanish 

12 



Thomas Jefferson. 




FRENCH AND SPANISH KANSAS. 


13 



Regiment of Louisiana moved out, a detachment of the 
First United States Artillery marched in, the American flag 
was raised, and the.next day, March 10,1804, Major Stoddard 
began the rule of the United States under the title of 
commandant. 


Coronado Crossing the Territory in 1541. 

8. First American Ruler. —Major Amos Stoddard, who 
was the descendant of the great divine, Jonathan Edwards, 
and grand-uncle of Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio, was the 
first American 'ruler of Kansas. He was a good man and 
brave soldier, and was mortally wounded in the defence of 
Fort Meigs, in Ohio, during the last war with Great Britain. 




14 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


9. Evidence of Spanish Exploration.— The Kansas 
that belonged to Spain and France was not entirely unknown 
or unvisited. It is believed that Coronado reached the 
country from New Spain in 1541. Various French and 
Spanish parties marched to and through the country, in 
some cases erecting crosses in token of sovereignty. They 
met the Indians, the Osages, the Pawnees, and the Kansas 
or Kaws, sometimes in peace, sometimes in war, but these 
expeditions left no trace behind more than does the fish in 
the water, the bird in the air. 

10. Few Spanish or French Names.— The French 
trappers and voyageurs gave names to a few of the streams 
and islands, but neither Frenchman nor Spaniard contrib¬ 
uted perceptibly to the nomenclature of Kansas; while to 
the east of the river in Missouri, French names will remain 
while water runs in the Chariton, the Femme Osage, the 
Pomme de Terre, the Moniteau and many more, in Kansas 
the slight French occupation left few traces on the map. 
Neither do the Indians who inhabited Kansas seem to have 
been town-builders or name-givers. If the rivers of Kansas 
ever bore Indian names, the appellations of most have been 
changed, or so corrupted as to have become unrecognizable. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Kansas, except a small portion in the southwest, formed part 

of Louisiana Purchase. 

2. The United States takes possession of Territory, March 10,1804. 

3. Coronado crossed the Territory in 1541. 

4. A few points bear French names, given by trappers. 


CHAPTER III. 


THE DISCOVERED COUNTRY. 

11. Lewis and Clark Expedition Planned by Jeffer¬ 
son. —With the acquisition of Upper Louisiana by the 
United States, came the spirit of enterprise and exploration. 
In the latter direction the new government set the example. 
Mr. Jefferson was full of interest and curiosity about the 
new empire of which so little was really known, and wrote 
with his own hand the directions governing the expedition 
which was to set out under Capt. William Clark, brother of 
Gen. George Rogers Clark, the conqueror 
of Illinois, and Capt. Merriwether Lewis, 
who had been the President’s private sec¬ 
retary. He selected both these guides and 
leaders from personal acquaintance; both 
were Virginians, and from his own neigh¬ 
borhood. 

12. Reached Kansas River. — The 

expedition reached the rendezvous near St. 

Louis early in the spring, and before the Spaniards were 
willing to acknowledge the Missouri as an American river. 
After the formal transfer the expedition, on the 10th of 
May, 1804, started up the turbid Missouri, and on June 27th 
reached the mouth of the Kansas river, landed and made a 
camp within the present limits of Kansas City, Kan. 

15 



Capt. William Clark. 




16 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


13. Independence Day at Atchison.— Proceeding up 
the stream, the different journals kept by the voyagers noted 
objects on either shore which may still be recognized by the 
description. On the 4th of July, 1804, the party landed at 
or near the present site of Atchison at noon, and made brief 

observance of their country’s natal day. 
Among those who joined in this first 
Fourth of July celebration in Kansas, was 
George Shannon, a brother of Wilson 
Shannon, afterwards to be a Territorial 
Governor of Kansas. The party named a 
small stream near their landing place, 
Fourth of July Creek, and going on np 
the river four miles, called another Kansas 
stream Independence Creek, a name which it bears to this 
day. So the Fourth of July came to Kansas. 

14. Expedition West to Pacific. —A few days later, 
and the boats had passed beyond the limits of Kansas, and 
the voyagers were on their way to the ‘ ‘land of the Dakotas, ’ ’ 
to the unknown springs of the Missouri, to the untrodden 
passes of the Rocky Mountains, to the far Columbia, on to 
the sounding surges of the Pacific, to return after two 
years, with but the loss of a single man in all the perils of 
the waste and wild, each voyager to his appointed fate— 
William Clark to live for many years a prosperous gentle¬ 
man and fourth Territorial Governor of Missouri, and 
Merriwether Lewis to die a mysterious death in a Tennessee 
wilderness. 

15. Pike’s Expedition Starts.— On July 16, 1806, two 
years and two months after the Lewis and Clark expedition 
had gone up the Missouri, another expedition left Beliefon- 



Capt. Merriwether Lewis. 




THE DISCOVERED COUNTRY. 


17 


taine under the command of Lieut. Zebulon Montgomery 
Pike, a young and active officer of the United States Army, 
who, in the summer of 1805, had departed on an expedition 
to the head waters of the Mississippi. He had returned to 
St. Louis in April, 1806, and now, in July, was ordered on a 
mission destined to last longer, and to he fraught with more 
important consequences than he could have imagined. 

16. Purpose and Route Planned. —His instructions 
were to take back to their tribe on the upper waters of the 
Osage river, some Osages who had been redeemed from cap¬ 
tivity among the Pottawatomies; then to push on to the 
Pawnee Republic on the upper waters of the Republican 
river, then to go south to the Arkansas, and to the Red 
river, interviewing on the way the Comanches. 

17. Osage Village Reached.— Pike followed the Mis¬ 
souri, and turned into the Osage (a continuation of the 
Kansas Marais des Cygnes), at that time, and for long 
afterward, a waterway to southern Kansas and Texas. He 
followed that picturesque stream to the Osag6 villages near 
the present line of Kansas and Missouri. He met there a 
chief named White Hair, who survived to the present gen¬ 
eration of Kansas. Procuring horses at the Osage villages, 
Pike mounted his party of some twenty, officers and soldiers, 
and a number of Osages, and started to execute the remainder 
of his mission. 

18. Beauty of Kansas Country.— Lieut. Pike entered 
Kansas in what is now Linn county, and kept on to the 
southwest, and climbing a high rise, came upon a sight 
which has delighted millions of eyes since his. “The 
prairie rising and falling in beautiful swells as far as the 





Lieut. Zebulon Montgomery Pike. 















THE DISCOVERED COUNTRY. 


19 


sight can extend.” The party came to a high ridge, which 
Pike describes as the dividing line between the waters of 
the Osage and the. Arkansas (which Pike spells Arkansaw). 
Still marching westward, the party reached the Neosho, and 
crossing it followed the divide, as Pike says, between the 
Neosho and the Verdigris. On the 17tli of September, 
going northward, they arrived at the main southwfest branch 
of the Kansas river, the Smoky Hill, and, two days later, 
a large branch of the Kansas river strongly impregnated 
with salt. 

19. Crosses Trail of Spanish Troops.— It was at 

about this time that Pike discovered that he was not alone 
in Kansas. He came across the trail of 300 Spanish troops. 
The Spanish authorities in New Spain, hearing from St. 
Louis of his departure, had sent Lieut. Malgares with a 
large party to intercept him. Malgares had gone down Red 
river, thence north to the Arkansas, and so on to the Saline, 
but the parties had missed each other. Lieut. Pike was 
destined to meet Lieut. Malgares later. 

20. Pawnee Village, —Pike’s party reached the Pawnee 
village on the 25th of September, 180G. The site of the 
village has been a matter of some discussion, but the latest 
investigation would locate it on portions of sections 2 and 3, 
township 2, range 5 west, in White Rock township, Republic 
county, Kan. 

21. “Stars and Stripes” Replaces Spanish Flag.— 

The spot was made memorable. Pike had but sixteen white 
soldiers, his Osage allies he probably did not count for 
much, since he describes them as “a faithless set of poltroons, 
incapable of a great and generous action,” but with his 
little force he overawed the sullen and hostile village. He 


20 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


met in council 500 Pawnee warriors. He found the Spanish 
flag flying from a pole in front of the council lodge, and he 
ordered it lowered, and the American flag raised in its 
place. It was done, and the Stars and Stripes for the first 
time was given to the Kansas breeze. Regardless of the 
temper of the Indians, he remained in the neighborhood 
until the 9th of October, when he marched off in the direc¬ 
tion of the Great Bend of the Arkansas. 

22. Party Divided at Arkansas River.— Arrived at the 
Arkansas, Pike divided his party. Boats were constructed, 
one canoe made of four buffalo hides and two elk skins, and 
a wooden canoe of green cottonwood, and in these Lieut. 
Wilkinson, son of Gen. James Wilkinson (under whose 
orders Lieut. Pike had set out), six soldiers and two Osages 
embarked with the intention of reaching Fort Adams on the 
Mississippi. The party were soon obliged to abandon them 
canoes and make their way on foot, suffering greatly from 
the cold. Lower down the river, they made some wooden 
boats, and, greatly hindered by sand bars and by floating 
ice, managed to reach Arkansas Post in safety by the 9th of 
January, 1807. 

23. Re-crosses Spanish Trail to Westward.— Pike, 
with the remainder of his party, now stood on the low, 
bleak shore of the Arkansas, in the last of October, with snow 
falling every day. Why he did not march south to Red 
river, according to his instructions, has never been made 
clear; instead, he moved up the Arkansas, climbing the 
long slope to the Rocky Mountains. The country was full 
of wild horses; Indians were met frequently, and again the 
Spanish trail was crossed that Pike had encountered in 
Northern Kansas. 


THE DISCOVERED COUNTRY. 


21 



24. Mexican Mountains Sighted.— On the 15th of 

November, Pike saw something else. 44 At two o’clock in 
the afternoon,” he writes, “I thought I could distinguish a 
mountain to our right, which appeared like a small blue 
cloud; viewed it with a spy glass, and was still more con¬ 
firmed in my conjecture, yet only communicated it to Dr. 


Pike’s Peak. 

Robinson, who was in front of me, but in half an hour it 
appeared in full view before us. When our small party 
arrived on the hill, they, with one accord, gave three cheers 
for the Mexican Mountains.” 

25. Pike’s Peak. —What Pike saw at first as a “small 
blue cloud,” was the Great White Mountain of the Span¬ 
iards, the majestic eminence afterward called, in his honor, 
Pike’s Peak. He measured the altitude of the mountain, 







22 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


making it 18,581 feet above the sea, and made efforts to reach 
the mountain itself, but without success. Afterwards he 
records, “In our wanderings in the mountains it was never 
out of our sight, except when we were in the valley. ” 

26. Pike Taken Prisoner. —These “wanderings” en¬ 
tailed fearful suffering from cold on the thinly-clad soldiers 
and the animals Pike reached the west fork of the Rio 
Grande del Norte and built a stockade, and here he was 
captured by a party of Spanish soldiers, as an intruder on 
Spanish territory. His instruments and papers were taken 
from him, and the command were marched as prisoners to 
Santa Fe, but were everywhere treated with kindness by 
the people. The escort, as it might be called, was com¬ 
manded for some time by Lieutenant Malgares, who had 
sought for Pike in Kansas. The young American officer, 
treated more as an honored guest than a prisoner, was 
taken to Chihuahua, then a fine city of 60,000 inhabitants; 
thence he was taken to within three days’ march of the 
American frontier and liberated, reaching Natchitoches, 
Louisiana, on the 15th of July, 1807, nearly a year after he 
left Beliefontaine. 

27. His Death—Toronto. —After his return to his own 
country, he continued in the army, where his rise was rapid. 
In the thirty-fourth year of his age he was a brigadier- 
general in service on our Northern frontier, and we were at 
war with Great Britain. He planned and carried out an 
attack on York, now Toronto, Canada, on the 27th of 
April, 1813, and was fatally wounded at the moment of 
victory. At his request, the flag of the captured garrison 
was placed beneath his head, and the chronicler of the time 
wrote, ‘ ‘He happily expired on the conquered flag of the foe. ’ ’ 


THE DISCOVERED COUNTRY. 


23 

28. Prominent in Kansas History.— The name of 
Zebulon Montgomery Pike forms a part of the history of 
Kansas, and should be mentioned with honor, because he 
was the first intelligent American explorer of the interior 
of Kansas, and the first to raise the flag of the United 
States within its present borders, and the first to record 
observations of the Great Plains country of which Kansas is 
a part. His journal was published in this country in 1810, 
and an abridgement afterward published in London, and the 
story of natural Kansas was thus spread about the world. 

29. Papers Preserved at Larned.— A few years since 
many of the papers of General Pike, including the precious 
scrap on which were written the last words he addressed to 
his wife, were still carefully preserved by his niece, the 
venerable Mrs. Sturdevant, of Larned, Kansas. 

30. Long’s Expedition. —The expedition of Pike was 
followed by that of Major Stephen H. Long, who/in 1819, 
ascended the Missouri in the first steamboat, the Western 
Engineer. Pike’s narrative, however, continued to be for 
a long time the most complete account of the regions em¬ 
braced in Kansas, Colorado and Northern Mexico. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark expedition across Territory. 

2. Fourth of July, 1804, was celebrated at Atchison. 

3. Pike’s expedition crossed Territory in 1806. 

4. Spanish soldiers had not yet been withdrawn. 

5. Spanish flag was lowered and the Stars and Stripes raised at 

the Pawnee village. Supposed to be in what is now 
Republic county. 

6. Pike’s Peak was sighted at 2 o’clock, p. m., November 15,1806. 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE GREAT HIGHWAY. 

31. Kansas Receives Eastern Boundary.— By the 

organization of Missouri as a State of the Union, Kansas, 
which was before without form as part of Louisiana, 
received an eastern boundary. The west line of Missouri, as 
first established, followed a meridian line north and south 
drawn through the mouth of the Kansas river at Kansas 
City to the Iowa line. This line was really a line between 
white settlement and Indian occupation. The portion of 
Indian ground between the Missouri line 
and the Missouri river was ceded by the 
Sacs and Foxes in 1836, and became a 
part of the State of Missouri under the 
name of the Platte Purchase, and the 
Missouri river became the boundary, 
but Kansas remained Indian ground. 

32. Limitation of Settlement 
Theory. —It seems to have been con¬ 
sidered that the Missouri was the limit 
of possible white settlement. Pike had written .of Kansas 
in his journal in 1806, “ From these immense prairies may 
arise one great advantage to the United States, viz.: the 
restriction of our population to certain limits, and thereby 
a continuation of the Union. Our citizens being so prone 
to rambling and extending themselves on the frontiers, 
will, through necessity, be constrained to limit their extent 
on the West to the borders of the Missouri and Mississippi, 
while they leave the prairies, incapable of cultivation, to 
the wandering aborigines of the country.” 

24 



Kit Carson. 



THE GREAT HIGHWAY. 


25 


33. Prediction not Realized.— The prediction of Pike 
was not destined to he realized; it was rendered impossible of 
accomplishment by the Louisiana Purchase. Under French 
or Spanish rule-the ramblings of citizens on the frontiers 
might have been restricted, under American rule it was 
impossible that a great habitable and tillable area in the heart 
of the country should remain a wilderness devoted to wild 
beasts and wilder men. The signal to the buffalo and the 
savage to move on, was really given when the treaty of 
Paris, ceding Louisiana, was signed. Missouri continued to 
fill up with settlers, mainly from Virginia, Kentucky, Ten¬ 
nessee and North Carolina, and the settlers extended them¬ 
selves toward the western border. 

34. Interest Aroused in New Mexico.— Pike, in his 
narrative, had described the ancient city of Santa Fe, the 
oldest city in the present United States. He was the first 
not only to give intelligible account of Kansas, but of Colo¬ 
rado, New Mexico and the northern provinces of Mexico, 
then New Spain. Pike’s relation aroused interest in those 
countries, and many individual attempts were made to open 
up commercial intercourse between the Missouri border and 
Santa Fe. These attempts generally resulted in disaster. 
The Spanish Government repressed all such, and desired no 
intercourse. 

35. Effect of Mexican Revolution.— The Mexican 
revolution, which began in 1811 and triumphed in 1821, 
broke down the non-intercourse rule, and in 1824 the first 
wagon train passed over the road from the Missouri to Santa 
Fe. There had been a Santa Fe trail before, but it had 
been made by caravans, small trains of pack animals, burros 
and mules, but with the passage of this wagon train came 


26 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


the real Santa Fe trail, the first broad mark made by civili¬ 
zation across the face of Kansas. It was a great road, 700 
miles long-, of which 400 miles were in Kansas, a hard, 
smooth thoroughfare from sixty to 100 feet wide, it had not 
a bridge in its whole length, was the best natural road of its 
length ever known in the world, and in token that it had 
“come to stay,” the broad-faced yellow sunflower, since 
chosen by Kansas people as the emblem of their State, sprang 
up on either side where the wheels had broken the soil, 
from end to end. 

36. Eastern Terminus of Santa Fe Trail.— The eastern 
starting point of the Santa Fe traffic was, at first, Franklin, 
Mo., on the Missouri river, which years ago undermined 
and swept the town away. Later the seat of the trade 
was removed to Independence, Mo., which, as early as 
1832, was recognized as the great outfitting point for the 
Santa Fe traders, and of the great fur companies. In time 
the business was divided with Westport, a newer town built 
on or near the line of Kansas. From the Missouri river 
landing for Westport has since grown Kansas City. 

37. Opening of Trail Through Kansas.— After the 
laying out of this highway, Kansas was no longer a solitude. 
Kansas had been set apart for Indians, the Act of Congress 
of May 26, 1830, formally defined Kansas as part of the 
Indian Territory. The opening of the Santa Fe trail was 
like the dedication of a business street through a wilderness. 

38. Fires Gleam Nightly Along Road.— A stream of 
human life was, as it were, set to flowing through the 
country. Trains going and coming in, over the long road, 
were seldom out of sight of each other, or of the gleam of 
the nightly fires. Millions of dollars’ worth of property 


THE GREAT HIGHWAY. 


were transported by the pack trains and wagon trains. An 
army of men was employed to drive and care for a host of 
animals. This army included, beside Americans, many 
Mexicans as teamsters and “packers/ 7 an art in which they 
stood unrivaled, and the dark features and soot-black hair 
of the “greaser 77 were made familiar from the Missouri to 
the mountains. The Spanish words incorporated in the 
English, as spoken in Kansas at this day, date back to the 
days of the Santa Fe trail. 

39. Route Branches at Great Bend.— Taking the his¬ 
tory of the Santa Fe trail as part of the history of Kansas, 
it furnishes a long and exciting chapter. Leaving the 
Missouri line, the trail led a little south of west to Council 
Grove, long a meeting place of whites and Indians, and 
then across the country to strike the Arkansas at the center 
of the arc of the Great Bend, where one road continued to 
follow the river into what is now Colorado, while at the 
Cimarron crossing a shorter road bore off to the southwest 
to the Cimarron river and to New Mexico. 

40. Pawnee Rock a Dangerous Point.— The. traveler 
who now follows the trail by railroad, reaches the once 
dark and bloody ground at the bend of the Arkansas, where 
is now the town of Great Bend; thence west every mile has 
witnessed conflicts between the Indians and the caravans of 
traders, or between different tribes of Indians. At Pawnee 
Rock station are seen the now scarcely visible remains of 
the Rock, once a landmark known from one end of the trail 
to the other, and considered one of the most dangerous 
points on the long and perilous road. The railroad 
bridge, says Inman, crosses the Pawnee Fork at the pre¬ 
cise spot where the old trail did, and here was a favorite 


28 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


battle ground between the tribes themselves, and the 
savages and all passers-by, the traders, the overland 
coaches, and every thing that attempted to ford the stream. 
On an island near Larned, according to Major Inman, 
the latest historian of the 
trail, occurred a savage 
battle between the Pawnees 
and Cheyennes, in which 
the latter were severely 
defeated, and so on through 
scenes of blood to where 
once was old Fort Aubrey. 

It may be said that the four 
hundred miles of the Santa 
Fe trail in Kansas, in the 
more than forty years that it 
was traversed by all classes 
of travelers, from the soli¬ 
tary horseman of story to 
marching armies, witnessed the display of all the great 
human qualities, patience, fortitude, and the most heroic 
courage, as contrasted with the darkest treachery and the 
most cowardly ferocity. 

41. Oregon Trail. —The Santa Fe trail while, perhaps, 
the most important, was not the only great highway existing 
in Kansas before it was recognized as a white man’s country. 
The Oregon trail was a great thoroughfare, leading to the 
valley of the Platte in Nebraska. There was the road made 
through what became the northern tier of Kansas counties 
to the crossing of the Blue at Marj^sville, by which a great 
emigration moved on to California. The river valleys, as 



Pawnee Rock. 







% 



Caravan Attacked by Indians. 






30 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


the Smoky Hill, served as road beds. It has been said that 
the valleys of the Kansas river and of the Arkansas were 
the first to be used as thoroughfares by civilized men in 
Kansas. But the great geographical truth was early dis¬ 
covered that Kansas was in the center of the great highway 
from the valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri to the 
Mountains and the Pacific. 

42. A Trail from the South.— In the days of the Cali¬ 
fornia emigration a road, long visible after it ceased to be 
used, was that coming from Fayetteville, Ark., northwest¬ 
ward, ajid joining the Santa Fe trail at Turkey creek, in 
McPherson county. 

43. Dog Trail became “White Man’s Road.”— The 

faintest trail made, and perhaps the earliest, was that by 
the Indian dog dragging lodge poles from place to place; 
then came the first “white man’s road,” the trace of the 
packers’ loaded horses, mules, and burros; then the wide 
roads made by the traders’ trains and the army wagons. 
All these left their mark in Kansas in the years while it was 
not an undiscovered country, but lying open and void, 
waiting for the rising of the Star of Empire. 

SUMMARY. 

1. American rule permitted the settlement of the territory, which 

would not have been allowed by Spain. 

2. The Santa Fe trail was a well-traveled, natural road, some sixty 

feet wide, and 700 miles long, lined on either side with sun¬ 
flowers, and its main branch extending from Independence, 
Mo., directly across the territory to the Great Bend of the 
Arkansas; thence by two branches, one by way of the Rocky 
Mountains, the other directly to Santa Fe, N. M. 


CHAPTER V. 


, THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 

44. Occupied by Four Tribes.— The oldest authorities, 
Marquette and others, represent the country now called 
Kansas as occupied principally by four great tribes of 
Indians, the Osages, the Pawnees, the Kansas, and a tribe 
that no longer exists, and, in fact, has not been heard of 
since the first quarter of the 18th century, the Padoucas. 
These tribes seem to have claimed Kansas among them, and 
to have extended widely beyond its 
present limits. The story of their 
wars, and huntings, and migrations, 
has little interest to civilized people. 

When they moved away from Kansas 
and from the earth, they left nothing 
except mounds of earth, rings on the 
sod, fragments of pottery, rude weapons 
and ruder implements. They fought 
each other, disputed possession with 
the wild beasts, were stricken down 
with fell diseases, but their history 
never became of interest or importance to the world, because 
they did nothing for the world. 

45. The Removal Policy.— As early as 1824, the United 
States Government had entered upon a policy of removing 
the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi, to a country which 



31 






32 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


should be their own, and where they should cultivate the 
habits of civilized life and live happily ever afterward. 

The Osages ceded nearly all their land in Missouri in 
1808, and were all located in Kansas by 1825, and the 
Shawnees removed to Kansas in the same year. 



War Dance in the Interior of a Kanza Lodge. 


The general removal of Indians to the West was deter¬ 
mined by the Act of Congress of May 26, 1830, by which an 
Indian Territory, with the following metes and bounds, was 
organized: Beginning on the Red river east of the 

Mexican boundary, and as far west as the country is habit¬ 
able, thence down the Red river eastwardly to Arkansas 
Territory; thence northwardly along the line of Arkansas 
Territory to the State of Missouri; thence north along its 








THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 


33 


westwardly line to the Missouri river; thence up the Mis¬ 
souri river to Puncah river; thence westwardly as far as 
country is habitable; thence southwardly to place of 
beginning. This gave a country 600 miles north and 
south approximately, and 200 miles east and west, as the 
country was not considered habitable over 200 miles west of 
the Missouri line, on account of the absence of timber. 

46. Indians Assured Permanent Homes.— These limits 
included the present State of Kansas, and from the passage 
of this Act of May 26, 1830, 
for twenty-four years after¬ 
ward, Kansas was a part of 
the Indian Territory. In 
this Act of 1830 the In¬ 
dians were assured, in almost 
affectionate language, that 
these lands which were given 
in exchange for those they 
were already occupying, 
should be theirs forever, 
and that the United States 
would give them patents 
for them if they so desired. 

47. Northern Part of Territory Occupied.— In 1832 
the Cherokees and other southern tribes, from Georgia and 
other States, were removed to the present Indian Territory, 
and the movement to fill the northern part of the Territory 
began. The Kansas Indians, whose name was later given 
to the State, once lived on the banks of the Missouri, where 
Lewis and Clark saw the remains of their villages, but they 
were driven westward to the Blue. Their former territory 



Indian Peace Medals. 1837. 



34 HISTOliY OF KANSAS. 

was occupied by the immigrating Indians. In 1831 the 
Delawares came from the James Fork of White river, in 
Missouri, and occupied their afterwards famous reserve in 
Kansas. In 1836 the Ottawas removed from Ohio to their 
Kansas reservation, watered by the Marais des Cygnes. In 
1842 the Wyandottes sold their 
lands in Ohio and removed to the 
forks of the Kansas and Missouri 
rivers. In 1837 the Pottawatomies 
began to gather in the Indian Ter¬ 
ritory, and in 1847 a tract of 576,000 
acres lying in the present counties 
of Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Wabaun¬ 
see and Jackson was occupied by 
them. Here they were reinforced by 
Col. Henry Leavenworth. Michigan PottawatolllieS ill 1850. 
The years 1846 and 1847 saw the location of the Miamis of 
the Wabash valley, in the limits of the Kansas county that 
now bears their name. In 1836 the Sacs and Foxes removed 
from the Missouri to the Kansas side of the river. The 
year 1832 saw the removal of the Kickapoos from the Osage 
river in Missouri to the neighborhood of Fort Leavenworth. 
The Cherokees were granted lands in Kansas, but never 
occupied them in force. Several small tribes, the Weas and 
the Piankesliaws, the Iowas and the Muncies, the Peorias 
and the Kaskaskias, and a small band of Chippewas, were 
granted lands in Kansas. 

48. Forts Established. —In consequence of the presence 
of the Indians, Fort Leavenworth was established as 
Cantonment Leavenworth, in 1827, by a detachment of the 
Third United States Infantry, and named in honor of Col. 



THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 


35 


Henry Leavenworth, of that regiment. Fort Scott was 
located in 1842, and named in 1843. Fort Riley, the third 
important post in Kansas, was not established till 1853, and 
was named for Gen. Bennett Riley, who guarded the Santa 
Fe trail and fought in Mexico. 



Baptist Migs^xl, established in 1831. Here Meeker's printing press was first set np in 1833. 


49. Degrees of Tribal Civilization.— In the days 
between 1830 and 1854, the principal figures in Kansas were 
the regular army officer, the Indian trader, and the mis¬ 
sionary. All these had important business with the Indian, 
and seem4e~have been kind to him. In the Indian tribes 
residing in the Territory there were great differences in con¬ 
dition and character. The Wyandottes, the Shawnees, the 
Delawares, and the Ottawas were far advanced on the road 
to civilization; at least, that was the opinion of their 



HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


36 - 



enthusiastic friends, the missionaries. The Pottawatomies 
had long been neighbors of the white people, and many 
bore French names and showed French blood. In 
Kansas they divided, those desiring to live as civilized 
people settling about the Missions, those 
who preferred the old ways going apart 
as the Prairie band. Other tribes af¬ 
fected but a shabby civilization, which 
was readily dissolved and dissipated in 
whisky; many individual Indians re¬ 
mained, to the last, uncaring barbarians. 
But for all Kansas Indians the govern¬ 
ment farmer ploughed, the government 
blacksmith heated his forge, the mis- 
Rev. Maurice Gaiiiand, s. j. s i onar y preached in English and Indian, 
and sang and prayed, and printed and taught. 

50. Pioneer Missionary Work.— The first Catholic 
baptisms of Kansas Indians were admin¬ 
istered by Father Charles La Croix, 
who had labored with the Missouri 
Osages, and who came to the Osages on 
the Neosho in Kansas, where the Presby¬ 
terians had already established their 
Harmony Mission, was given by them 
a room for a chapel, and baptized several 
Osage children. Later came to the 
Neosho the Rev. John Schoenmakers, 
with several other missionaries and Father Joh n schoenmakers. 
Sisters of Loretto, and began what proved for him a life¬ 
time of labor for the spiritual and temporal benefit of the 
Osages, Both these objects were sought at all missions, 







THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 


37 


Protestant and Catholic. At the Mission were, beside the 
chapel and the school, a saw mill and a grist mill. However 
little the Indian may have cared, the labor in his behalf was 
incessant. There is in the annals of Kansas no story of 
more utter devotion than that of Rev. 

Jotham Meeker, who was aided in all his 
labors by his wife. Mr. Meeker, called by 
the Indians, “He that speaks good words,” 
labored first in Michigan with the Ottawas 
and Chippewas. He came to the Shawnees, 
in Indian Territory, 1833, and later went 
to the Ottawas, in Franklin county, Kan. 

He was a practical printer, and brought to 
Kansas the first printing press and type. 

He printed the first book in Kansas, and published an Indian 
newspaper and many books in the Ottawa language. Mr. 
Meeker,' largely assisted by one of his converts, Mr. J. T. 
“Tawa” Jones, gathered a church, a school, and opened a 
fine farm. After years of patient labor, Jotham Meeker 
died in 1854, and was followed in two years by his wife, and 
both rest where they fell in the cause of religion and civili¬ 
zation. 

51. St. Mary’s Mission. —While the Protestant mission¬ 
aries established their centres, the Catholic missionaries 
established their principal headquarters at St. Mary’s, on 
the Kansas river, and thence missionary priests visited the 
different tribes while they remained. In Doniphan county, 
Rev. Samuel M. Irvin began a Presbyterian Mission among 
the Iowas in 1837, erected substantial buildings, and wrote a 
grammar of the Iowa language. A daughter of Missionary 
Irvin is believed to have been the first white girl born in 






38 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


Kansas, as a son of Missionary Thomas Johnson, Alexander 
S. Johnson, was the first white boy. With Mr. Irvin in 
the labor of the Mission was associated Rev. Wm. Hamilton. 

52. McCoy’s Advanced Explorations.— On the mis¬ 
sionary roll of honor no name is to be 
written above that of Isaac McCoy. He 
began his work among the Miarnis in 
Indiana, in 1817, continued it among the 
Pottawatomies near Fort Wayne, and fol¬ 
lowed that tribe to Michigan, where he 
also labored with Mr. Meeker and Dr. 
Lykins at the Ottawa Mission. Mr. McCoy 
was the effective advocate of the Act of 
1830, for the removal of the Indians to 
the West. He preceded the Indians to Kansas and explored 
and surveyed their reservations. He was known to all the 
tribes. He firmly believed in the possibility of the elevation 
of the Indian, and worked to that end to 
the close of his life, which came at Louis¬ 
ville, Ky., in 1846. 

53. Shawnee Mission School.— The 

Wyandottes attracted the good offices of 
the Friends as long ago as the date of their 
treaty with William Penn, and among the 
religious teachers of these people, Henry 
Harvey was honorably distinguished both 
in Ohio and Kansas. Perhaps the most ambitious attempt 
at mission building in Kansas, in the pre-territorial period, 
was the erection, in 1839, of the Shawnee Mission Manual 
Labor School, two miles from Westport, Mo. This was the 
work of Rev. Thomas Johnson, who, with his wife, had 



Mrs. Christina McCoy. 



Isaac McCoy. 







THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 


39 


taught the Shawnees of the neighborhood since 1829. 
This Mission became famous as the meeting place of the 
first Territorial Legislature, Mr. Johnson 
'himself being President of the first Ter¬ 
ritorial Council. The fine Kansas county 
of Johnson was named in his honor. 

54. Indian Language Written.— But 
there were many names which should 
be kept in honor—of Chapman and Vinall, 
and Robert Simerwell and his wife; 
Francis Barker and Ira 
D. Blanchard, and Mrs. Webster and 
Miss Harriet H. Morse, and Rev. Moses 
Merrill and wife; the Hadleys, father 
and son; the Rev. E. T. Peery and Mrs. 

Peery; John G. Pratt, who was the 
printer of the Shawnees and the 
Delawares; and of Father Gailland, 
long at the head of the Mission at 
St. Mary’s. 

All these and many 

more labored for the Indians. They 
invented phonetic alphabets, they created 
written languages. Father Gailland 
wrote a Pottawatomie dictionary; Father 
Hoeken published a Pottawatomie prayer 
book; Father Ponzilione wrote an Osage 
prayer book. 

The first church-going bell that 
ever sounded in Kansas was a Mission bell. It was 
brought to the Baptist Mission near the present Mount 



Mrs. Robert Simerwell. 



Robert Simerwell. 



Rev. Thomas Johnson. 








40 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Muncie Cemetery, Leavenworth, and hung in the fork of 
a tree. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Kansas was originally occupied by four great tribes of Indians: 

the Osages, the Pawnees, the Kansas, and the Padoucas 
or Comanches. 

2. The Government adopts the policy of removing the eastern 

and southern tribes to the Territory. 

3. Fort Leavenworth was established 1827, Fort Scott 1842, and 

Fort Riley 1853, to afford protection to the frontier. 

4. Missionaries aid in the advance of civilization by reducing 

the Indian languages to writing. 

5. St. Mary’s was founded by the Catholics, and Shawnee Mission 

by Protestants. 



Implements and Ornaments of Kansas Aborigines. 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT. 

55. Population Centres.— At the opening of the year 
1853, the white population of Kansas was, as it had been for 
twenty years, concentrated about the forts, trading posts, 
missions, and reservations, from the Missouri to Council 
Grove. The population of these centres ranged from ten 
upwards, the largest number probably being located in and 
around Uniontown, in what is now Shawnee county. The 
population was small, scattered, and uninterested in public 
affairs. 

56. Delegate not Received. —There were, from 1852, 
occasional feeble attempts to induce action at Washington, 
and, in 1853, Abelard Guthrie was nominated as delegate 
in Congress by a convention at Wyandotte, while Rev. 
Thomas Johnson was put in nomination at the Kickapoo 
village. The latter was elected and went to Washington, 
but was not received. 

57. Douglas’ Bill. —The crisis came with the report, 
on January 24, 1854, from the Committee on Territories, 
by its chairman, Senator Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, 
of an amended bill to organize the territories of Kansas and 
Nebraska, afterward to be known in history as the Kansas- 
Nebraska Act, though, at the time of its introduction, it 
was commonly called the Nebraska Bill. 

The main feature of this long bill of thirty-eight sections, 
was, that it abrogated the agreement of the Missouri Com- 

41 


42 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


promise of 1820, prohibiting (as the price of the admission 
of Missouri as a Slave State) slavery north of the line 
36° 30\ and, in place of pro¬ 
hibiting, left the question 
of slavery or no slavery to 
the people of the respective 
Territories when they should 
come to frame their State 
Constitutions. This bill was 
discussed in Congress for 
four months, and passed the 
Senate at four o’clock on the 
morning of March 4, 1854, 
and the House at midnight 
of May 22d, by a vote of 113 
to 100, and was signed by 
President Franklin Pierce 
on the 30th of May—since 
chosen as Decoration Day with all its memories. 

58. Opposition to Bill.— The passage of the bill was 
fought at every step, and its triumph was received throughout 
the North wdth demonstrations of grief and anger, because a 
great number of American citizens, after the experiences 
of the Missouri 'Compromise of 1820, the Fugitive Slave 
Law, the Dred Scott decision, and the Compromise of 1850, 
did not believe that the bill meant an honest submission of 
the question of slavery to the bona fide settlers of Kansas, or 
meant anything except a determined purpose to force slavery 
upon Kansas, and upon every Territory of the United States. 

59. Author’s Motive. — Senator Douglas, himself a 
native of Vermont, and a Senator from the great Free State 



k Meeker Title Page. 








THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT. 


43 


of Illinois, disclaimed this as a purpose, and declared that 
his main desire was to take from Congress the decision of a 
local domestic question, and leave it to the people vitally 
interested. For h'imself he declared that he did not care 
whether slavery was voted up or voted down. If the pur¬ 
pose of the enactment was to quiet the agitation of the 
slavery question, it signally failed. The direct result of the 
introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was to bring on a 
discussion more violent and widespread than had ever been 
before known in the country. As far as the conflict affected 
the Nation at large, the details belong to the general political 
history of the United States. The centre and most perilous 
spot in the field was soon transferred to Kansas Territory. 

60. Derivation of “ Kansas.”— The Kansas-Nebraska 
Act defined the boundaries of the new Territory, and gave 
to it the name of Kansas. The spelling and definition of the 
word Kansas have been the cause of much discussion. Prof. 
Dunbar, formerly of Kansas, a most accomplished Indian 
linguist, states that the name of the Kansas river is derived 
from the Kansas Indian word Kanza, meaning “swift.” 

61. Kansas Boundary. —The following are the limits 
of the Territory as given in the act: 

Beginning at a point on the western boundary of Missouri, 
where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses 
the same; thence west on said parallel to the eastern 
boundary of New Mexico; thence north on boundary to lati¬ 
tude thirty-eight north latitude, thence following said 
boundary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of 
Utah, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence 
northward on said summit to the fortieth parallel of lati¬ 
tude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary 


44 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


of the State of Missouri, thence south with the western 
boundary of said State to the place of beginning. 

The south line was not made to conform with the line of 
the Missouri Compromise, 36° 30', but was fixed at the 
thirty-seventh parallel, the boundary between the reserva¬ 
tions of the Cherokees and the Osages. The fortieth parallel, 



Catholic Church at Osage Mission, built in 1847. 


the north line, was established in 1853, the meridian point 
being fixed at the Missouri river by Capt. Thomas J. Lee, 
United States Engineers, and the line westward surveyed 
by Mr. John P. Johnson, for many years, and until his 
death, an honored citizen of Highland, Doniphan county, 
Kan. 





THE KANSAS-NEBKASKA ACT. 


45 


62. Indian Land Opened to Settlers.— For months 
prior to the passage of the Nebraska Act, the Government of 
the United States had been engaged in securing the cession 
of the lands of various Indian tribes in Kansas. The tract 
purchased of the Shawnees alone amounted to 1,600,000 
acres. 

On the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act the lands 
acquired by the Government became open to public settlement 
and hundreds of persons from Missouri crossed over and 
staked claims, some to remain as bona fide settlers, more to 

return at once to Missouri. 
These squatter claims became a 
sufficient source of difficulty 
among claimants, had there been 
no other. 

63. Societies for Coloniza¬ 
tion. —Taking the language of 
the Kansas-Nebraska Act to mean 
what it said, and “ Popular 
Sovereignty” as a contemplated 
fact, both parties to the con¬ 
troversy began to make preparation for the occupation 
of the disputed country. The border counties of 
Missouri rang with the note of preparation. “Defensive 
Associations,” “Squatters’ Associations,” “Blue Lodges,” 
and various secret and open societies were formed on the 
border for the purpose of occupying Kansas, and the repel¬ 
ling of invaders of the abolition variety, and on the other 
hand the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society procured its 
charter April 24, 1854, after the passage of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Act by the House, but before its passage by the 









46 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Senate. The Emigrant Aid Society of New York and Con¬ 
necticut was chartered in July. A lengthy “report” issued 
in May, 1854, set out at great length the objects of the New 
England Society. One article urged the forwarding of 
saw mills, grist mills and other machinery to the new 
country. “At the same time it is desirable,’ ’ said the report, 

‘ ‘that there should be sent out a printing press, and a news¬ 
paper established. This would be the organ of the com¬ 
pany’s agents, and be from the start the index of that love 
of freedom and good morals, which it is hoped may charac¬ 
terize the State now to be formed.” 

64. Invitation to Settlers.— There is indeed a “real 
estate” flavor, which has lingered about descriptions of the 
country ever since, in the following article: 

“It is to be remembered that all accounts agree that the 
region of Kansas is the most desirable part of America now 
open to the emigrant. It is accessible in five days’ continu¬ 
ous travel from Boston. Its crops are very bountiful; its 
soil being well adapted to the staples of Virginia and Ken¬ 
tucky, and especially to the growth of hemp. In the east¬ 
ern section the woodland and prairie land intermix in 
proportions very well adapted to the purpose of the settler. 
Its mineral resources, especially its coal, in the central and 
western parts, are inexhaustible. A steamboat is already 
plying on the Kansas river, and the Territory has an unin¬ 
terrupted steamboat communication with New Orleans and 
all the tributaries of the Mississippi.” 

65. Struggle Between North and South.— The two 
emigration societies mentioned were not all; there was, 
beside, the Union Emigration Society organized in the city 
of Washington. The large associations organized auxiliary 



THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT. 47 

societies throughout the North. The issue was joined. The 
border counties of Missouri stood for the South, far off and 
remote. Behind the Emigrant Aid societies stood the North, 
according to the lines of communication, nearer, in popula¬ 
tion and wealth vastly more powerful. The advocates of 


Lawrence, Kan., 1855. 

slavery had no issue except the establishment of human 
bondage in a new, an unwilling country, and apparently no 
conception of any means of accomplishing that end except 
by force. The result may have been doubted, but it 
was never doubtful. In the ears of those who marched 
to Kansas from the conquering North, sounded a watch¬ 
word which has always rung in men’s ears like the note of a 
trumpet, or breathed as the voice of a siren, it was— 
“Freedom.” 









48 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


66. Towns Founded. —President Pierce signed the 
Kansas-Nebraska Act on the 30th of May, 1854. On the 
13th of June the Leavenworth town company was organ¬ 
ized at Weston, Mo. On the 17th of July, the first party 
of Free State emigrants left Boston and Worcester, arriv¬ 
ing at the mouth of the Wakarusa eleven days later. The 
party numbered thirty, under the direction of Mr. Charles 

H. Branscomb. Two weeks later they were followed by a 
larger party under the direction of Dr. Charles Robinson 
and Samuel C. Pomeroy. The Atchison town company 
was formed in Missouri, July 27th. Events moved rapidly. 
In September the Lawrence Association was formed for the 
government of the new city. In the same month the first 
newspaper in Kansas, the Herald , was printed under a tree 
in Leavenworth. In September the first sale of lots oc¬ 
curred in Atchison. One Free State and two Pro-slavery 
towns started, and the battle begun. Topeka, an addition 
to the Free State strongholds, was founded December 5, 
1854. 

SUMMARY. 

I. Rev. Thomas Johnson was elected, in 1853, delegate to Congress, 

but was not received. 

2. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill was passed May 30, 1854. 

3. Professor John B. Dunbar states that the word Kansas was 

derived from Kanza, which means “swift.” 

4. The Governmenl secured large tracts of Indian lands. Settlers 

immediately began to move to the Territory. 

5. Societies of the opposing parties were formed for the occupa¬ 

tion of the Territory. 

6. Among the events of 1854 were the founding of Leavenworth, 

Lawrence, Atchison, and Topeka. 

7. The first newspaper was printed at Leavenworth. 


CHAPTER VII. 


THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT. 

67. First Territorial Governor.— Andrew H. Reeder, 
first Governor of the Territory of Kansas, arrived at Fort 
Leavenworth on the 7th of October, 1854. He was a Penn¬ 
sylvania lawyer of high standing in his native county of 
Northampton, from whence he came to Kansas, and through¬ 
out the State, but had never held public office. He had 
always been a member of the Democratic party, and thor¬ 
oughly indorsed the doctrine of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. 

68. Other Officers of Territory.— The 

other appointed officers of the Territory 
arrived at intervals. The Secretary of the 
Territory, whose office was most important, 
since under the organic act he assumed in 
the Governor’s absence all his powers and 
functions, was Daniel Woodson, of Virginia; 
the Chief Justice of the Territory was Samuel 
I). Lecompte, of Maryland; the Associate Justices, Saunders 
W. Johnson, of Ohio, and Rush Elmore of Alabama; United 
States Marshal, Israel B. Donalson of Illinois. Some of 
these names were destined to a lasting recollection in Kan¬ 
sas: one of them, that of Secretary Woodson, to a place 
on the map of Kansas. Notwithstanding the amount of 
explosive material lying about, Gov. Reeder received a 

49 





50 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


hearty welcome at Leavenworth, and his reception was quite 
as kindly at Lawrence, which he soon after visited. He 
took a tour of observation through the Territory to inform 
himself concerning its topography and population. He was 
urged to order an election of members^ of the Legislature, 
but took the ground that the common law, and the laws of 
the United States, extended over the Territory, and that 
there was no pressing need of legislation, and himself sat 
as a magistrate in the case of a man charged with attempt 
to kill, and bound the party over. 

69. Election of Delegate. —On the 10th of November, 
Gov. Reeder issued his proclamation for an election for 
delegate to Congress on the 29th of the same month. This 
was the first election held in the Territory. The candidates 
were Gen. John W. Whitfield, Pro-slavery; R. P. Flenniken, 
Administration Democrat, and John A. Wakefield, Free 
State. On the day of the election, as was afterwards 
reported by an investigating committee, a large number 
of persons came over from Missouri and voted, but 
Gen. Whitfield received a legal plurality. As this would 
have happened, and he would have received a certificate 
of election 'without it, the invasion was a causeless 
and senseless outrage, which had no further effect than 
to inflame the North, in which the determination that 
Kansas should not be a slave State was daily growing 
more resolute. 

The name which assumed the most prominence in the 
leadership of the Pro-slavery movement was that of David 
R. Atchison, a United States Senator from Missouri, Presi¬ 
dent of the Senate and acting Vice-President of the United 
States 


THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT. 


51 


70. First Census. —In February, 1855, Gov. Reeder 
caused the first census of the Territory to be taken. 
It showed a population of 8,501 persons, and 2,905 
voters. 

71. Fraudulent Voting 5 . —Governor Reeder divided 
the territory into districts, appointed judges of election and 
ordered an election for a Territorial Legislature to be held 
March 30, 1855. At the election of March 30th most of 
the voting places in the territory were occupied by armed 
men from Missouri. At Lawrence the invading force was 
estimated at 1,000 men, and they brought two pieces of 
artillery. This force being larger than was deemed neces¬ 
sary, squads were detached and sent to other voting places. 
The judges of election appointed by the Governor were 
driven from the polling places or resigned their offices. 
The census of the preceding month of February gave 
Kansas Territory 2,905 voters. At this March election 
6,318 votes were cast, of which 1,410 were legal and 4,908 
were fraudulent. The day after this election the actual 
facts were known all over the Territory; within the week, 
in every corner of the United States. The result was fuel 
to the roaring fire; every means which had been before 
used in the warfare against slavery was redoubled. The 
betrayed people who had gone to the Territory under the 
implied promise of the Kansas-Nebraska Act that the 
people of the Territories should be allowed to regulate their 
institutions in their own way, became throughout the Free 
States the objects of boundless sympathy; the story of the 
invasion of March 30th was told in song and story, and by 
artist’s pencil, and still the Free State emigrants pressed 
into the Territory of Kansas. 


52 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


72. Governor Reeder’s Action.— Governor Reeder set 
aside the elections in certain districts for informality, and 
ordered an election to be held May 22d, to fill vacancies. 

Governor Reeder had, according to his instructions, 
removed his office from Fort Leavenworth to the Shawnee 
Manual Labor School, two miles west of Westport, Mo. 



Territorial Capitol, Shawnee, 1855. 


He ordered the first Legislature of the Territory to con¬ 
vene at Pawnee, a town which had been laid out near 
Fort Riley. After his decision in regard to the elections, 
and his proclamation for the meeting of the Legislature, 
Governor Reeder went East to meet charges which the Pro¬ 
slavery leaders had made in asking his removal. At the 
election to fill vacancies in the Legislature, neither the Pro- 









THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT. 


53 


slavery voters in the Territory or in Missouri took part. 
The Free State voters alone participated. 

73. First Legislature. —The members of the Legisla¬ 
ture met at Pawnee on July 2, 1855. The Pawnee town 
company had erected a stone building for the use of the 
Legislature, which stood for many years afterward within 
sight of the Union Pacific railroad track. There was also 
a hotel and some other conveniences. 

The Legislature came, went into camp, remained four 
days, unseated the Free State members, seated the members 
declared elected on the 30th of March, and passed a bill 
‘ ‘ to remove the capital temporarily to Shawnee Manual 
Labor School/ 7 which act was vetoed by the Governor and 
passed over his veto, and the Legislature adjourned. 

On the re-assembling of the Legislature at the Shawnee 
Manual Labor School, Governor Reeder informed the body 
that it was in session where it had no right, in contraven¬ 
tion of the Act of Congress, and that he could give no 
sanction to any act it might pass. 

74. Gov. Reeder Removed. —The Legislature, in both 
branches, memorialized the President of the United States 
to remove Governor Reeder, and on the 31st of July his 
removal was officially announced, and on the 16th of August 
the Governor announced his removal to the Legislature, and 
so ended the term of the First Territorial Governor of 
Kansas. Governor Reeder was informed that he was removed 
for some irregular purchases of public lands. The departure 
of Governor Reeder made Secretary Woodson acting Gover¬ 
nor. His signature is affixed to all the laws passed by what 
the Free State party called the “Bogus Legislature. 77 This 


54 


HISTORY OF KANSAS 


Legislature adopted the body of Missouri statutes, but 
added thereto a series of “black laws” exceeding in ferocity 



WM. BLAIR LORD. JOHN UPTON. 

HON. MORDKCAI OLIVER. HON. WM. A. HOWARD. HON. JNO. SHERMAN. 

Congressional Investigation Committee.* 


anything ever before known in the United States. Anti¬ 
slavery men were disqualified from holding office. 


*Represents the members and two of the officers of the Kansas Con¬ 
gressional Investigating Committee of 1856. The committee was appointed 
under a resolution of the House of Representatives, passed March 19,1856, 
with instructions to “Proceed to inquire into and collect evidence in 
regard to the troubles in Kansas generally, and particularly in regard to 
any fraud or force attempted or practiced in reference to any of the elec¬ 
tions which had taken place in the Territory, etc.” 











THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT. 


55 


75. Capital Located. —The Legislature organized a 
large number of counties, and provided that every officer 
in the Territory, executive and judicial, was to be 
appointed by the Legislature, or by some officer appointed 
by it. These appointments to hold until after the general 
election of 1857. No session was to be held in 1856. The 
Legislature fixed upon Lecompton as the Territorial seat 
of government. 

76. Topeka Government Organized.— The reply of the 
unorganized Free State people of the Territory to the Pro¬ 
slavery Legislature was organization. Whenever there was 
a meeting, or a set of resolutions adopted—and there were 
many meetings, and many resolutions—the Shawnee Legis¬ 
lature was denounced as the off spring of fraud and force, 
and its enactments of no validity. The movement finally 
ended in what came to be known as the Topeka Govern¬ 
ment. Delegates to the Topeka Constitutional Convention 
were elected October 1, 1855. The Convention met on the 
23d of October, completed the Topeka Constitution, the first 
constitution of Kansas, on the 11th of November. The 
constitution was submitted to a vote on the 15th of Decem¬ 
ber. At Leavenworth the poll books were destroyed by a 
Pro-slavery mob, and also the office of a Free State news¬ 
paper. Outside of Leavenworth 1,731 votes were cast for 
the constitution, and 46 against it. The 4th of March, 
1856, was set for an election of State officers under the 
Topeka Constitution. 

The Topeka Constitution provided, “There shall be no 
slavery in this State, or involuntary servitude except for 
crime.” 


56 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


77. Shannon, Second Governor.— In September, 1855, 
Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, Second Territorial Governor of 
Kansas, appeared at Westport, Mo. Unlike Governor 
Reeder, Governor Shannon had been much in public life. 
He had been Governor of Ohio, United 
States Minister to Mexico, and Member 
of the House of Representatives, where 
he had voted for the Kansas-Nebraska 
Act. 

78. Election of Delegate Not Rec¬ 
ognized. —On the 1st of October there 
occurred an election for delegate in 
Congress. The Free State voters took 
no part in this election, and John W. 

Whitfield received 2,721 votes. On the 9th of October the 
Free State voters cast 2,849 votes for Andrew H. Reeder. 
Congress refused to seat either contestant. 

79. Mob Violence at Atchison. —During the spring 
and summer of 1855 there was much disturbance. Many of 
the collisions were doubtless incited by private and personal 
enmity, but the outrages which created the most profound 
impression throughout the country were those committed 
for opinion’s sake. Rev. Pardee Butler was seized at 
Atchison, in August, and sent down the river on a raft 
made of two logs, with many circumstances of injury and 
insult. Returning the following spring, he was stripped, 
tarred, and covered with cotton. He was a peaceable settler 
of the county, he had only expressed his opinion upon a 
question which, under the Kansas-Nebraska Act, was left 
to the determination of the lawful voters of the Territory. 
His story was told all through the North and roused a 









THE BEGINNING OF GOVERNMENT. 


57 


determination of resistance. While Pardee Butler was 
going down the river on his raft, John Brown was moving 
along the road to Kansas with his rifle. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Gov. Reeder and other territorial officers arrive. 

2. First election for members of the Legislature takes place, 

attended by invasion, fraud, and violence. 

3. First Legislature meets at Pawnee, and removes to the 

Shawnee Manual Labor School. 

4. Gov. Reeder is succeeded by Gov. Shannon. 

5. The first Constitution of Kansas was completed at Topeka, 

November 11, 1855, and provided, “there shall be no slavery 
in this State, or involuntary servitude except for crime.” 



Map of that portion of the Indian Territory West of the Mississippi, 
within the present bounds of Kansas. 




























CHAPTER VIII. 


WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR. 

80. Contest Precipitated. —Governor Shannon soon 
found that the office of Governor of Kansas Territory was 
not a bed of roses. 

On the 21st of November, 1855, at Hickory Point, ten 
miles south of Lawrence, a Free State settler named Dow 
was killed by a Pro-slavery man named Coleman. Dow, 
whose body lay in the road for hours, was buried by his 
Free State friends, who, at his funeral, declared they would 
ferret out the murderer and his accomplices. That night, 
Coleman, the slayer, having fled, his cabin was burned 
down, and that of a friend of his named Buckley. This 
man, in common parlance, “swore his life against” Jacob 
Branson, a Free State man, a friend of Dow’s. Sheriff 
Jones (who, though a resident of Westport, Mo., was, by 
appointment of the. Territorial Legislature, Sheriff of 
Douglas county, Kan.), with a posse, took Branson into 
custody on the night of November 22. When the Sheriff’s 
party had arrived near Blanton’s Bridge, they were met by 
a party of Free State men, among whom Major J. B. Abbott 
and Samuel N. Wood were prominent, and the prisoner, 
with little show of violence, was taken from his captors. 

81. The Wakarusa War. —Sheriff Jones rode to Franklin, 
a Pro-slavery outpost, dispatched a messenger to Missouri, 
and notified Governor Shannon that a rebellion had broken 


58 


WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR. 


59 


out in the Territory, and that 3,000 men were required to 
suppress it. This was the beginning of the “ Wakarusa 
War.” The Governor ordered Generals Richardson and 
Strickler, of the Territorial militia, to march to Lecomp- 
ton, and report to the Sheriff all the force they could 
collect. In the meantime, the Missouri border was stirred 
with appeals, and a large force was raised to organize 
another invasion. 

A formidable Pro-slavery force collected at Franklin. 
Free State companies gathered from the vicinity, and joined 
the garrison of Lawrence. Sheriff Jones came into Lawrence, 
but failed to find the rescuers of Branson. Governor 
Shannon wearied of the Missourians who had arrived to 
assist the Sheriff, and besought them to disband and depart, 
and in the meantime called on Colonel Sumner, of the 
United States army, to bring troops. The Free State 
leaders succeeded in opening up com¬ 
munication with Governor Shannon, 
and as a final result the invaders in the 
interest of “law and order” started back 
to Missouri, the beleaguered garrison of 
Lawrence was relieved, and Governor 
Shannon affixed his signature to a treaty 
signed by Charles Robinson and James 
H. Lane, and a few evenings later met 
these gentlemen at an evening party 
given by the ladies of Lawrence, at which even Sheriff Jones 
was an invited guest. 

82. Thomas W. Barber a Martyr.— But the “Wakar¬ 
usa War” was not destined to end without bloodshed. 
Thomas W. Barber, a young man, who had been among the 



Colonel B. V. Sumner. 




60 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


defenders of Lawrence, was on his way home with two 
friends, when they were confronted by two horsemen, who 
detached themselves from another party, and Barber was 
killed. Murders had not been uncommon, but this excited 
unusual horror. The funeral of Barber was attended by 
every demonstration of respect, Charles Robinson and 
James H. Lane speaking beside the coffin. 

Whittier afterwards wrote the “Burial of Barber:” 

Not in vain a heart shall break, 

Not a tear for freedom’s sake 
Fall unheeded; God is true. 

The Kansas county of Barber commemorates his name. 

83. Whitfield Elected to Congress.— In October, 1855, 
an election was held for delegate to Congress, in which 
Free State men did not participate, and General John W. 
Whitfield received 2,721 votes. 

84. Election of State Officers. —On the 15th of January, 
1856, occurred the election of State officers under the Topeka 
Constitution: Charles Robinson was chosen Governor; W. 
Y. Roberts, Lieutenant-Governor; P. C. Schuyler, Secretary 
of State; G. A. Cutler, Auditor; John A. Wakefield, Treas¬ 
urer; H. Miles Moore, Attorney-General; M. Hunt, M. F. 
Conway, G. W. Smith, Supreme Judges; E. M. Thurston, 
Reporter of Supreme Court; S. B. Floyd, Clerk of Supreme 
Court; John Speer, Public Printer; Representative in Con¬ 
gress, M. W. Delahay. 

85. First Session of Topeka Legislature. —On the 

4th of March, 1856, was held the first session of the Topeka 
Legislature. Governor Robinson presented a message. 
James H. Lane and Andrew H. Reeder were chosen United 


WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR. 


61 


States Senators, and a memorial was prepared asking admis¬ 
sion into the Union. The Legislature adjourned to meet on 
the 4th of July,. 

86. Topeka Constitution in Congress. —The Topeka 
Constitution was presented in the Senate of the United 
States, by Senator Lewis Cass, on March 24th, and in the 
House by Hon. Daniel Mace, of Indiana. 

87. Disbanding of Topeka Legislature.— On the re-as- 
sembling of the Legislature at Topeka, on the 4th day of 
July, 1856, Colonel E. V. Sumner, U. S. A., appeared with 
five companies of United States dragoons and two pieces of 
artillery. Colonel Sumner entered the halls of the Senate 
and House, and told the members that the Legislature must 
disperse, and they obeyed. Colonel Sumner was accom¬ 
panied by United States Marshal Donalson. Colonel 
Sumner acted under the orders of Acting-Governor Woodson, 
and Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis. 

The Topeka Legislature re-assembled in January, 1857, 
when some of the officers and members were arrested by a 
Deputy United States Marshal, and taken to Tecuinseh. 
The Legislature again met in January, 1858, and adjourned 
to Lawrence, and asked the Territorial Legislature, then in 
session, to substitute the State for the Territorial organiza¬ 
tion, which they refused to do. 

On the 4th of March, 1858, the Legislature under the 
Topeka Constitution met, found itself without a quorum, 
and adjourned to meet no more. This was the end of the 
Topeka movement 

On the 3d of July, 1856, the House of Representatives 
passed a bill for the admission of Kansas under the Topeka 
Constitution, by a vote of ninety-nine to ninety-seven. The 


62 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


opposition of the Senate to any free Constitution was 
invincible. 

88. Treason Programme. —The administration of 
President Pierce, and that of Kansas Territory, early took the 
position that adherence to the Topeka Government, or non¬ 
obedience to the Shawnee Missouri Legislature, constituted 
some form of treason and insurrection. The numberless 
troubles of 1856 had their origin in the attempts of the 
National and Territorial authorities to arrest, prosecute and 
punish Free State men for rebellion and high treason. 

By May, the treason suppression programme was far 
advanced. Governor Robinson, Governor Reeder, and many 
others were indicted for high treason. Governor Reeder, 
who was in the Territory in attendance on the Congressional 
Investigating Committee, commonly called the “Howard 
Committee, 77 refused arrest, and made his way to Kansas 
City, Mo., whence he escaped, in disguise, down the 
Missouri, on the deck of a steamboat. 

Many persons were arrested, during May, at different 
points, refused bail by Judge Lecompte, and confined at 
Lecompton. Governor Robinson, while traveling with his 
wife, was arrested at Lexington, Mo., was brought back to 
Lecompton, and held a prisoner for four months. 

89. Events at Lawrence. —By the 17th of May, 1856, 
a large armed force had collected in the vicinity of 
Lawrence. On the 21st of May, Sheriff Jones entered the 
town with armed followers, and by virtue of writs out of 
the First District Court of the United States for Kansas 
Territory, burned and battered down the Free State hotel, 
and destroyed the offices of the Herald of Freedom , and the 
Kansas Free State newspapers. Stores were broken open 


WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR. 


63 


and robbed, and the residence of Charles Robinson was 
burned. The force employed was some 800 cavalry and 
infantry, with four pieces of cannon. 

Conspicuous on this occasion, and in counseling and 
directing destruction, was General David R. Atchison, of 
Missouri. The cavalry was commanded by Colonel H. C. 
Titus, recently of Florida. A considerable part of the 
force consisted of South Carolinians, under the command 
of Major Buford. There was planted on the walls of the 
Herald of Freedom office, before its destruction, a blood red 
flag, bearing a lone star and the words “South Carolina and 
Southern Rights. 7 * The Government of the United States 
was directly represented, on this occasion, by Deputy 
United States Marshal Fain. 

90. John Brown Appears. —Among the witnesses of 
these transactions of the 21st of May, was John Brown, his 
five sons, and a son-in-law. On the night of the 24th of 
May, on Pottawatomie creek, in Franklin county, James P. 
Doyle, his two sons: William Sherman, commonly called 
“Dutch Henry,’ 7 and Allen Wilkinson, a member of the 
Shawnee Mission Legislature, were called out of their 
cabins and killed. John Brown led the party that did the 
deed. 

After this, Brown captured, at Black Jack, Captain 
H. Clay Pate and twenty-eight of his party who had started 
out to capture Brown. 

91. A Reign of Violence. —The Free State men 
attacked the Pro-slavery headquarters at Franklin, wounded 
several defenders, and took a considerable quantity of 
munitions of war. On the other side, a party of Missourians 
under General John W. Whitfield, plundered Osawatomie. 


64 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Early in August, the Free State men broke up a camp of 
Georgians near Osawatomie. On the 12th of August they 
made a second attack on Franklin, smoked out the block¬ 
house, and compelled the garrison to surrender. On the 
16th of August, Captain Sam Walker, with the loss of one 
man, captured the fortified house, near Lecompton, of 
Colonel Titus, of Florida, and twenty prisoners. Prior to 
this, a Free State party had captured a Georgia headquarters 
on Washington creek, called “Fort Saunders.” 

The war never ceased in Linn county, and in August, in 
a fight at Middle creek, the Free State partisans, under 
Captains Anderson, Cline and Shore, routed a Pro-slavery 
detachment under Captain Jesse Davis. On the 30th of 
August, 400 men from Missouri, under General John W. 
Reid, attacked Osawatomie. The place was defended by 
forty-one men, under John Brown. In this action, Frederick 
Brown, a son of John*Brown, was killed by Rev. Martin 
White. All the houses in Osawatomie save four were 
burned. 

In Leavenworth, a Pro-slavery mob murdered William 
Phillips, a Free State lawyer, who had been tarred and 
feathered the year before, and a Vigilance Committee com¬ 
pelled Free State citizens to leave Ihe city. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The border troubles. 

2. Whitfield elected to Congress. 

3. First session of Topeka Legislature, March 4, 1856. 

4. The sacking of Lawrence, and acts of retaliation. 

5. Action under the Topeka Constitution, and dispersal of the 

Topeka Legislature. 

6. The treason arrests. 

7. Free State citizens compelled to leave Leavenworth. 


CHAPTER IX. 


A GLIMPSE OF LIGHT. 

92. Release of Three State Prisoners.— On the 5th 

of September, 1856, a force from Lawrence with two guns 
appeared at Lecompton on the heights about the town, and 
were met by Colonel Phillip St. George Cooke, with a 
detachment of United States troops, who demanded the 
errand of the approaching army. It 
was explained that the release of Free 
State prisoners, not the “treason pris¬ 
oners” who were held by United States 
authorities, but all others, was demanded, 
and that the general protection of the 
Free State population from robbery and 
murder was the object of the demon¬ 
stration. As a result of this interview 
an exchange of prisoners was effected. 

93. Accession of Governor Geary. —On the 21st of 
August, 1856, Governor Shannon received notice of his 
removal. On the 7th of September he met his succes¬ 
sor at Glasgow, Mo., coming up the Missouri river, and 
on the 9th of September, John W. Geary, third Gover¬ 
nor of Kansas Territory, arrived at Fort Leavenworth. 
He immediately reported to the President that he had to 
contend against “armed ruffians and brigands”; that the 
town of Leavenworth was in the hands of bodies of men, 



Governor John W. Geary. 


G5 






66 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


who, calling themselves militia, perpetrated the most atro¬ 
cious outrages under the shadow of authority from the 
Territorial government. 

94. The Hickory Point Fight. —Governor Geary 
arrived at Lecompton on the 10th of September, 1856. 

The next day, Captain Har¬ 
vey, a Free State partisan, 
surprised a Pro-slavery force 
at Slough creek, in Jeffer¬ 
son county, and captured 
the blood-red South Carolina 
flag, which had been raised 
at the sacking of Lawrence 
in May, and which is now 
in possession of the Kan¬ 
sas State Historical Society. Captain Harvey, two days 
after, captured Hickory Point, in Jefferson county. The 
101 men under Harvey were taken prisoners by Colonel 
Cooke, U. S. A., who marched them to Lecompton, where 
they were held by Judge Cato for trial on the charge of 
murder in the first degree. Twenty of these were after¬ 
wards sentenced to five years in the penitentiary, though 
they never were incarcerated. 

95. Governor Geary’s Action. —Governor Geary’s 
first act was to issue a proclamation disbanding the Terri¬ 
torial militia, and ordering all other armed men to quit the 
Territory. The Governor proceeded to Lawrence and found 
the town in arms in prospect of another invasion. He left 
United States troops there, and went to the junction of the 
Wakarusa and the Kansas rivers, where he found a force 
of 2,700 men from Missouri under the command of General 



South Carolina Flag. 



A GLIMPSE OF LIGHT. 


67 


Atchison, General Reid, General Whitfield, Sheriff Jones, 
and others. This force he ordered to disband, and it 
disappeared. 

96. Treason C^ses Abandoned.— Prior to Governor 
Geary’s arrival, the treason prisoners” were released on 
bail by Judge Lecompte in the sum of 
$5,000 each. Governor Robinson gave 
bail just four months from the day he 
was taken prisoner. Of the remaining 
prisoners, some were tried and acquitted, 
some escaped, and a nolle was entered in 
the cases of others. 

97. The Road Opened. —The Mis¬ 

souri river had been for some time 
closed against Free State travel, and Governor Robt. j. Walker, 

large parties of Free State immigrants had been entering 
the Territory via Iowa and Nebraska. In October, a 
party was arrested by Colonel Cooke and a Deputy 
United States Marshal. Governor Geary met the immi¬ 
grants and ordered their release. Afterward, immigration 
was free. 

98. Governor Geary Retires. —The Second Territorial 
Legislature met at Lecompton. Governor Geary vetoed 
some of the bills, which were passed over his veto. After 
continuous troubles with the Legislature, and being con¬ 
stantly threatened with personal violence, Governor Geary 
announced that he would be absent from Lecompton for 
awhile, left the Territory quietly and never returned. 
Many years after, in grateful remembrance of Governor 
Geary’s course in Kansas, the name of Davis county was 
changed to Geary. 



68 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


99. Walker’s Appointment. —James Buchanan became 
President of the United States, March 4, 1857. 

Shortly after the departure of Governor Geary, Robert 
J. Walker was appointed Governor of Kansas, March 26, 
1857. He was preceded in the Territory by Frederick P. 
Stanton, Secretary of the Territory, who became Acting 
Governor. Governor Walker arrived in May. He com¬ 
menced his labors to induce the entire mass of voters to 
participate in the election for delegates to the Lecompton 
Constitutional Convention, for which the late Legislature 
had provided. The Free State voters generally declined 
the invitation, and at the election in June, 1857, but 2,071 
votes were cast for delegates. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Free State prisoners liberated. 

2. John W. Geary appointed Governor. 

3. Governor Geary disbands militia, and orders armed men to 

leave the Territory. 

4. Treason prisoners released. 

5. Immigration made free. 

G. Governor Geary leaves the Territory. 

7. Walker appointed Governor. 

8. Governor Walker urges citizens to vote for delegates to the 

Lecompton Constitutional Convention, but the Free State 
people decline to do so. 


CHAPTER X. 


THE LECOMPTON AND LEAVENWORTH CONSTITUTIONAL 
CONVENTIONS. 

100. The Leeompton Convention. —The Lecompton 
Constitutional Convention met and framed the second Con¬ 
stitution of Kansas between the 11th of September and the 
3d of November, 1857. It was provided that the vote should 
be taken on the “Constitution without slavery,” or the 
“Constitution with slavery,” no vote being allowed against 
the Constitution. The vote, taken on the 21st of December, 
according to John Calhoun, President of the Lecompton 
Constitutional Convention, stood, “for the Constitution with 
slavery, ’ ’ 6,226; ‘ ‘for the Constitution without slavery, ’ ’ 569. 
At this election the Free State party did not vote, and an 
enormous fraudulent vote was cast. 

101. Territorial Election. —In October, while the 
Lecompton Convention was in session, the regular election 
for members of the Territorial Legislature, and a delegate 
in Congress had taken place, and resulted in the election of 
a majority of Free-State members of both branches of the 
Legislature, and of Marcus J. Parrott, Free State, as 
delegate. Oxford precinct, near the Missouri line, a pre¬ 
cinct containing eleven houses, cast 1,628 Pro-slavery votes. 
Governor Walker and Secretary Stanton issued a proclama¬ 
tion rejecting the whole return from Oxford precinct. This 
settled the Free State character of the lawful returns. 


69 


70 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


102. Special Session of the Legislature.— On the 7th 

of December, the Legislature was called together in special 
session at Lecompton. A message was received from Sec¬ 
retary Stanton, Governor Walker having left the Territory, 
in which he urged the submission 
of the whole Constitution. But 
the chance of the Lecompton Con¬ 
stitution had passed away. 

103. Second Submission.— 
Under an act of the special session, 
a vote was ordered, for or against 
the Constitution, on the 4th of 
January, the same day set for the 
election of State officers under 
the Lecompton Constitution. A 
portion of the Free State party 
„ m . .. _ . supported a State ticket. The 

vote on the Constitution as declared 
by Secretary and Acting Governor Denver, who had suc¬ 
ceeded Mr. Stanton, was 10,288 against the Constitution to 
138 for it. Marcus J. Parrott was elected Member of Con¬ 
gress, and, in spite of frauds, the Free State ticket received 
a small majority. The ticket was as follows: Governor, 
George W. Smith; Lieutenant-Governor, W. Y. Roberts; 
Secretary of State, P. C. Schuyler; Auditor, JoelK. Goodin; 
Treasurer, A. J. Mead. 

104. Third Territorial Legislature.— The Free State 
officers chosen, immediately prepared a memorial to Con¬ 
gress, disavowing all intention to serve under the Lecompton 
Constitution, and urging that body not to admit Kansas 
into the Union under it. The third Territorial (and first 



CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS. 


71 


Free State) Legislature, met in regular session at Lecompton 
the 4th of January. 1858 organized, and on the 6th adjourned 
to Lawrence. 

The Territorial Legislature remained in session at Lawrence 
for forty days. It passed bills to repeal the slave code, and 
to abolish slavery in the Territory, over the veto of Governor 
Denver, and an act to remove the Capital of the Territory 
to Minneola, Franklin county. It also provided for the 
election of delegates to meet in a Constitutional Convention. 

105. The Leavenworth Constitution. —The Conven¬ 
tion assembled at Minneola on March 23d, and adjourned 
to Leavenworth, re-assembling on the 25th. The Leaven¬ 
worth Constitutional Convention adopted a Constitution 
which did not contain the word 
white .’ ? The following ticket was 
nominated for State officers under 
the Leavenworth Constitution: Gov¬ 
ernor, HenryJ. Adams; Lieutenant- 
Governor, Cyrus K. Holliday; Sec¬ 
retary of State, E. P. Bancroft; 

Treasurer, J. B. Wheeler; Auditor, 

George S. Hillyer; Attorney-Gen¬ 
eral, Charles A. Foster; Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction, J. M. 

Walden; Commissioner of School 
Lands, J. "W. Robinson; Represen- Governor James W. Denver, 
tative in Congress, M. F. Conway; 

Supreme Judges, William A. Phillips, Lorenzo Dow, and 
William McKay; Reporter of Supreme Court, Albert D. 
Richardson; Clerk of Supreme Court, W. F. M. Arny. 
At the election of May 18th, the Leavenworth Constitution 




72 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


and the officers nominated received an aggregate of 3,000 
votes. It was presented, but never voted on by either 
House of Congress. 

Minneola, at which the Convention first assembled, did 
not remain the capital of Kansas Territory. The bill remov¬ 
ing the capital thither was declared illegal by Jeremiah S. 
Black, Attorney-General of the United States. 

106. Failure of Lecompton Constitution. —It was 
evident by the beginning of 1858, that slavery could never 
be established in Kansas with the consent of the people, 
yet, nevertheless, President Buchanan urged upon Congress 
the acceptance of the Lecompton Constitution, declaring 
that Kansas was “already a slave State, as much as Georgia 
or South Carolina.” In this policy he was vigorously 
opposed by Senator Douglas. After much discussion the 
Lecompton Constitution was sent back to the Kansas 
people. The vote was taken August 2, 1858, under the 
propositions of the “English bill,” and again the Constitu¬ 
tion was repudiated by 11,812 to 1,926 votes. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Free State party refused to vote for delegates to the Lecomp¬ 

ton Constitutional Convention. 

2. Members of Territorial Legislature and delegate to Congress 

elected by Free State party. 

3. After special session of the Legislature, the Lecompton Consti¬ 

tution was again submitted, and again defeated. 

4. The Third Territorial Legislature prepared a memorial to 

Congress, and passed bills to abolish slavery. 

5. The Leavenworth Constitution adopted, and State officers 

nominated. 

6. The Lecompton Constitution submitted again in 1858, and for 

the last time defeated. 


CHAPTER XI. 


EVENTS OF 1858. 

107. Governors of 1858.— James W. Denver, who 
succeeded Frederick P. Stanton (removed for calling the 
special session of the Territorial Legislature), served as 
Acting-Governor until the resignation of 
Governor Walker, in May, 1858, when he 
became Governor, with Hugh S. Walsh 
as Secretary. Governor Denver resigned 
in September, his resignation to take 
effect October 10, 1858. After his depart¬ 
ure, Secretary Walsh acted as Governor 
until the arrival of Governor Samuel 
Medary, in December. 

108. The Marais des Cygnes Mas¬ 
sacre. —On May 19, 1858, occurred near Trading Post, in 
Linn county, the tragedy known in Kansas annals as the 
Marais des Cygnes massacre. A party of twenty-five men 
from across the border, headed by Captain Charles Hamil¬ 
ton, collected eleven Free State settlers, stood them up in a 
line in a ravine and fired upon them. Five fell dead and 
all the others save one were badly wounded; the five 
wounded and one unwounded man feigned death and 
escaped. The murdered men were William Stilwell, Patrick 
Ross, William Colpetzer, Michael Robinson and John F. 
Campbell. The wounded were William Hairgrove, Asa 

73 



Governor Hugh S. Walsh. 






74 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Hairgrove, B. L. Reed, Amos Hall and Asa Snyder; the 
unharmed man was Austin Hall. The place of the bloody 
deed is now marked by a public monument, and its memory 
will be forever preserved by the lines of Whittier, with 
their final prophecy: 

LE MARAIS DU CYGNE. 


“ A blush as of roses 

Where rose never grew! 
Great drops on the bunch 
grass, 

But not of the dew! 

A taint in the sweet air 
For wild bees to shun! 

A stain that shall never 
Bleach out in the sun! 

“ Back, steed of the prairies! 
Sweet song-bird, fly back! 
Wheel hither, bald vulture! 

Gray wolf, call thy pack! 
The foul human vultures 
Have feasted and fled; 

The wolves of the border 
Have crept from the 
dead. 

“ In the homes of their rear¬ 
ing, 

Yet warm with their lives, 
Ye wait the dead only, 

Poor children and wives! 
Put out the red forge fire, 
The smith shall not come; 
Unyoke the brown oxen, 

The plowman lies dumb. 


“ Wind slow from the Swan’s 
Marsh, 

O dreary death-train, 

With pressed lips as bloodless 
As lips of the slain! 

Kiss down the young eyelids, 
Smooth down the gray hairs; 
Bet tears quench the curses 
That burn thro’your prayers. 

‘ ‘ From the hearths of their 
cabins, 

The fields of their corn, 
Unwarned and unweaponed, 
The victims were torn— 

By the whirlwind of murder 
Swooped up and swept on 
To the low, reedy fenlands, 
The Marsh of the Swan. 

“ With a vain plea for mercy 
No stout knee was crooked; 
In the mouths of the rifles 
Right manly they looked. 
How paled the May sunshine, 
Green Marais du Cygne, 
When the death-smoke blew 
over 

Thy lonely ravine. 


EVENTS OF 1858. 


75 


“ Strong man of the prairies, 
Mourn bitter and wild! 
Wail, desolate woman! 

Weep, fatherless child! 

But the grain of God springs 
up 

From ashes beneath, 

And the crown of His harvest 
Is life out of death. 

“ Not in vain on the dial 
The shade moves along 
To point the great contrasts 
Of right and of wrong; 


Free homes and free altars 
And fields of ripe food; 
The reeds of the Swan’s 
Marsh, 

Whose bloom is of blood. 

“ On the lintels of Kansas 
That blood shall not dry, 
Henceforth the Bad Angel 
Shall harmless go by! 
Henceforth to the sunset, 
Unchecked on her way, 
Shall liberty follow 
The march of the day.” 


109. Retribution.— William Griffith, one of the mur¬ 
derers, was arrested in Platte county, Mo., in 1863; was 
tried, and convicted of murder at Mound City, Linn county, 
Kan. He was executed October 30, 1863. William Hair- 
grove, one of the survivors of the tragedy, 
acted as executioner. 

110. Fourth Territorial Legisla¬ 
ture. —Governor Medary’s position re¬ 
quired him to pass in review the acts of 
the Fourth Territorial Legislature. That 
body met at Lecompton, and adjourned 
at once to Lawrence. It repealed the 
“Bogus Statutes 77 of 1855, which were 
afterwards burned in the streets; made 
provision for a Constitutional Convention and a State Gov¬ 
ernment if the people decided for it at a preliminary elec¬ 
tion, and passed an act of amnesty for offenders in certain 
counties who had been fighting over political differences. 
Notwithstanding this peaceful measure, Captain James 



Governor Samnel Medary. 






76 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Montgomery and his men continued the war with the Pro¬ 
slavery people in Linn and Bourbon counties, and Captain 
John Brown carried off a number of persons lawfully bound 
to servitude in Missouri, to freedom elsewhere. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Political changes of 1858. 

2. The Marafs des Cygnes massacre. 

3. Whittier’s commemorative poem, “Le Marais du Cygne.” 

4. The Wyandotte Convention and Constitution provided for. 



The Old Windmill at Lawrence. 



CHAPTER XII. 


THE WYANDOTTE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 

Ill- The Convention. —The vote on the proposition 
to hold a Constitutional Convention at Wyandotte was held 
March 28, 1859. The total vote was 6,731; 5,036 being 
cast “for a Constitution, 77 and 1,425 “against a Constitu¬ 
tion. 77 

The election of delegates to the Convention occurred on 
the 7th of June, 1859. 

The Convention which was to frame the Constitution 
under which Kansas was destined to enter the Union of the 
States, assembled at Wyandotte, July 5, 1859. It was 
composed of fifty-two delegates. 

In the election of these, the old appellations of “Free 
State 77 and “Pro-slavery 77 were abandoned, and the elected 
delegates were classified as thirty-five Republicans and 
seventeen Democrats. It was the first Constitutional Con¬ 
vention in Kansas which contained members of both 
political parties. Historians of the Convention have 
recorded that few of the heretofore prominent leaders of 
political action in the Territory were present in the Conven¬ 
tion, and that a large proportion of the members were 
young men. Many of the delegates were destined to 
distinction in the civil and military history of Kansas in 
the years to follow. 

112. Officers. —The Convention was organized by the 
choice of Samuel A. Kingman, as temporary President, and 

77 


78 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


John A. Martin, as Secretary. A permanent organization 
was effected by the choice of James M. Winchell, as Presi¬ 
dent; John A. Martin, as Secretary; J. L. Blanchard, 
Assistant Secretary; George F. Warren, Sergeant-at-Arms; 
J. M. Funk, Doorkeeper; Rev. Werter R. Davis, Chaplain; 
President pro tem ., Solon 0. Thacher. 

113. The Model. —The Constitution of the State of 
Ohio was adopted as a “model or basis of action/ 7 

114. Sixth Section. —The Convention was for freedom. 
The Sixth Section of the Bill of Rights was made to read 
“There shall be no slavery in this State, 
and no involuntary servitude, except for 
crime, whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted/ 7 

A proviso to suspend this section, for 
one year after the admission of the State, 
was voted down, twenty-eight to eleven. 

This was the last suggestion made to 
allow slavery to exist in Kansas, for a 
day or an hour. Well said a member 
of the Convention, “the Constitution will commend itself to 
the good and true everywhere, because through every line 
and syllable there glows the generous sunshine of liberty. 77 

115. Boundary and Capital. —The Convention rejected 
a proposition to embrace, in the new State, a portion 
of Nebraska south of the Platte, and fixed the western line 
at the twenty-fifth meridian, cutting off the Territorial 
county of Arapahoe, which was afterwards embraced in the 
Territory and State of Colorado. Thus, the boundaries of 
Kansas were finally and permanently determined. 

The temporary seat of Government was located at Topeka. 







THE WYANDOTTE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 79 

The Convention substantially completed its work in 
twenty-one days. 

116. The Constitution Adopted.— On the 12th of 
September, 1859, James M. Winchell, President, and 
John A. Martin, Secretary,, called an election on the 
Wyandotte Constitution, to ratify or reject it. The vote 
was taken on the 4th of October, 1859, and stood: for the 
Constitution, 10,421; against the Constitution. 5,530. The 
“homestead clause” was submitted separately, and received 
8,788 votes, as against 4,772. So the free people of Kansas' 
adopted the Wyandotte Constitution. 

117. Men of the Convention. —The Wyandotte Con¬ 
stitutional Convention has maintained a high place in 
the regard of the people of Kansas, on account of the 
strong and steadfast character of its membership, and the 
solid quality of its work. Its labors were followed, inside 

of two years, by the admission of Kansas 
as a State, and by the outbreak of a war 
in which the existence of the State, and 
of the Union of the States had to be 
maintained. In the councils of the civil 
state, and in its armed defense, the 
members of the Wyandotte Convention 
bore a high and honorable part. In the 
organization of the State 7 s first Supreme 
Court, Samuel A. Kingman served as an 
Associate Justice, and after, as its Chief Justice. 
Benjamin F. Simpson was chosen the first Attorney-General 
of the State, and Samuel A. Stinson, another member, was 
elected to that office in 1861. Two of the framers of the 
Wyandotte Constitution, John J. Ingalls and Edmund G. 



Solon 0. Thacher. 







80 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Ross, lived to serve Kansas in the Senate of the United 
States. John A. Martin, the youthful Secretary, was twice 
chosen Governor of the State. Two of the lawyers of the 
body, Solon O. Thacher and William C. McDowell, were 
chosen District Judges at the first election under the Con¬ 
stitution. These and many others served 
the State long and well in various places 
of responsibility, in the first and subse¬ 
quent Legislatures, on the bench, and in 
other capacities. W. R. Griffith, the 
first State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, was a member of the Con¬ 
vention. 

When “war’s wild deadly blast was 
blown,” the members of this Convention 
rallied to the standard. James G. Blunt entered the service 
at once and became a major-general. John P. Slough 
became a brigadier-general, and Simpson, Ross, Hippie, 
Martin, Ritchie, Burris, Nash, Werter R. Davis, and 
Middleton, officers and members of the Wyandotte Conven¬ 
tion, entered the army as line and field officers of the Kansas 
regiments. 

118. Convention Stood for Law and Liberty. —The 

Wyandotte Convention contained few of those who had 
prior to its assemblage been recognized and conspicuous 
leaders in controlling public opinion in the Territory, but 
it framed a Constitution that met the Kansas idea of the 
rights of man, the protection of the home, the establishment 
of justice. A Kansas woman, Mrs. C. I. H. Nichols, 
attended daily the sessions of the Convention, and coun¬ 
seled for those provisions that protect the sacred rights of 



Mrs. 0. I. H. Nichols. 




THE WYANDCfrTE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 81 


the wife, the mother, the woman citizen. The spirit of the 
Wyandotte Constitution has been preserved. None of the 
amendments added to it have weakened or restricted its 
original purpose. It remains, after forty years, the charter 
of liberty, and the basis of law in Kansas. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The Wyandotte Constitutional Convention convened at Wyan¬ 

dotte, July 5, 1859. 

2. The members of the Convention were for the first time from 

both political parties. 

3. James M. Winchell was chosen President of the Convention. 

4. The Constitution of Ohio was the model for the Constitution of 

Kansas. 

5. The Sixth section stood for freedom. 

6. The capital was located temporarily at Topeka. 

7. The Constitution was accepted by the people October 4, 1859. 



Golden medal presented in 1874 to Mrs. Mary A. Brown, widow of John Brown, 
by Victor Hugo and others. 




CHAPTER XIII. 


THE TRAGEDY OF JOHN BROWN. 

119. His Migration and Settlement. —On the 2d of 

December, 1859, John Brown was executed at Charlestown, 
Va. 

It was on the 23d of August, 1855, that John Brown, 
born at Torrington, Conn., May 9, 1800, a man then fifty- 
five years of age, started from Chicago, Ill., with a heavily 
loaded one-horse wagon for Kansas. He w r alked beside his 
wagon, shot game for food, passed through Rock Island, 
Illinois; Iowa, and Missouri, and reached a point on or 
near Pottawatomie creek, and eight miles from Osa- 
watomie, Kansas Territory, on the 6th of October, 1855. 
He settled in the neighborhood of his sons, John Brown, 
Jr., Salmon, Frederick, Jason, and Owen 
Brown, who had come to the Territory 
with their families early in the year. 
From the day of his arrival, his name 
became attached, for weal or woe, for 
glory or for shame, with that of Kan¬ 
sas. He was very generally known first 
as “Osawatomie Brown.” 

His first public appearance in the 
troubles of the Territory appears to 
have been at Lawrence during the “Wakarusa War/’ in 
December, 1855. That disturbance was ended by a 

82 



John Brown. 




THE TEAGEDY OF JOHN BKOWN. 


83 


treaty/’ as it was called, but “Osawatomie Brown” 
wanted no treaty, and counseled resistance. On the 21st 
of May, 1856, when occurred the “sacking of Lawrence,” 
and the destruction of the Free State hotel, and the 
Herald of Freedom and Free State newspaper offices, John 
Brown, his sons, and a son-in-law, were in Lawrence and 
witnessed all that happened, and on the night of the 24th 
of May, five Pro-slavery settlers on Pottawatomie 
creek were killed. This was the “Pottawatomie Massacre,” 
over John Brown’s complicity in which there has been 
much controversy. John Brown, when asked by his son, 
Jason Brown, who was horrified by the deed, “Father, did 
yon have anything to do with that bloody affair on the 
Pottawatomie?” said, “I approved it.” 

120. John Brown in the Field. —From this time for¬ 
ward, John Brown may be said to have taken and kept the 
field. He seldom joined himself with what may be called 
the masses of the Free State party. He did not aspire to 
the civil or military leadership of that party, but, with a 
small and chosen company, he kept the wood and prairie; 
attacking and attacked. A few days after the “Potta¬ 
watomie Massacre,” Captain H. Clay Pate, a Deputy 
United States Marshal, with a posse, captured John Brown, 
Jr., and Jason Brown. They were turned over to the 
United States troops and marched to Lecompton, prisoners. 
On the road they were treated with such severity that John 
Brown, Jr., was driven insane. On the 2d of June, Cap¬ 
tain John Brown, at Black Jack, captured Captain Pate 
and twenty-eight of his party, and held them prisoners till 
they were taken from him by United States troops, but 
treating them, as Captain Pate himself stated, with 


84 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


humanity. On the 30th of August occurred the second 
attack on Osawatomie. John Brown, with forty-two men, 
unavailingly fought the assailants, the town w T as burned, 
and his son Frederick was shot down in the road. 

121. John Brown in Massachusetts. —In February 
of the next year, 1857, John Brown appeared before a 
committee of the Massachusetts Legislature and told of the 
suffering in Kansas as he had seen it, the burnings, the 
robberies, the murders, the houseless people, the fire, 
smoke and desolation. 

122. John Brown in Missouri. —After this Eastern 
visit he appeared again in Kansas, made a raid into 
Missouri, brought out fourteen slaves, and went away 
to the North with them. The Governor of Missouri offered 
$3,000 reward for him, and the President of the United 
States $250. An attempt made to capture Brown on his 
northward way at Holton, Kan., was a failure. 

123. The Parallels. —In the early days of January, 
there appeared in a Kansas paper, the Lawrence Republican , 
a communication signed by Brown, and usually called ‘ ‘John 
Brown’s Parallels.” It was his farewell to Kansas. He 
recited his action in carrying off the slaves from Missouri, 
and contrasted it with the “Marais des Cygnes Massacre,” 
which had happened in the May previous. When‘this article 
appeared, Brown had gone from Kansas. In March, 1859, 
he reached Canada with twelve fugitive slaves. The rest of 
his history belongs to that of the country and of the world. 

124. The Defense. —One rainy Sunday night, at the 
Kennedy farm house, he said to his eighteen men: “Men, 
get on your arms, we will proceed to the Ferry,” and so 


THE TRAGEDY OF JOHN BROWN. 


85 


they went. On the 1st of November, 1859, Captain Brown 
stood np in court at Charlestown, Virginia, to answer, if 
he might, why sentence of death should not be passed upon 
him, and he drew some further “parallels.” 

“I have another objection, and that is, that it is unjust 
that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in 
the manner in which I admit, and which I admit has been 
fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of 
the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in 
this case), had I so interfered in. behalf of the rich, the 
powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf 
of any of their friends, either father, or mother, brother, 
sister, wife, or children, or any of that class, and suffered 
and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would 
have been all right, and every man in this court would have 
deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment. 

“This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of 
the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose 
to be the Bible, or, at least, the New Testament. That 
teaches me that all things ‘Whatsoever I would that men 
should do unto me, I should do even so to them.’ It teaches 
me further, ‘to remember them that are in bonds as bound 
with them. 7 I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I 
say, I am yet too young to understand that God is any 
respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I 
have done, as I have always freely admitted I have done, in 
behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. 
Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life 
for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my 
blood further with the blood of my children, and with the 
blood of millions in this slave country, whose rights are 


86 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments. I 
submit, so let it be done.” 

125. He Lives in the Hearts oi Kansans. —In Kansas, 
the name of John Brown is held in remembrance in many 
ways, both by the old who knew his face, and the young 
who have but heard his name. In 1877 a marble monument 
was reared to his name at Osawatomie, near the old field of 
fearful odds. In the collection of the State Historical 
Society are preserved the garments he wore, and some of 
the last lines he is known to have written. A Kansas poet, 
Eugene F. Ware, has written of him: 

From boulevards, 

O’erlooking both Nyanzas, 

The statued bronze shall glitter in the sun, 

With rugged lettering: 

“John Brown, of Kansas; 

He dared begin; 

He lost, 

But losing, won.” 

SUMMARY. 

1. John Brown arrived in Kansas, October 6,1855, a day memor¬ 

able in the chronicles of freedom. 

2. John Brown active in attack and defense at and near Osa¬ 

watomie. 

3. He pleads”before a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature 

in behalf of the suffering of Kansas. 

4. He took fourteen slaves from Missouri to the North. 

5. In court at Charlestown, Ya., he gave as his defense, “I believe 

that to have interfered as I have done, in behalf of the 
despised poor, was not wrong but right.” 

C. His memory in Kansas. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


LAST OF TERRITORY AND FIRST OF STATE. 

126. Action of Congress.— The people of Kansas had 
spoken, but the will of the people was not yet to be consum¬ 
mated. The admission of Kansas as a Free State was yet 
to be opposed in the Senate of the United States. On the 
11th of April, 1860, the House passed the bill admitting 
Kansas under the Wyandotte Constitution. The bill went to 
the Senate and was there rejected. On the 21st of January, 
1861, Jefferson Davis and other Southern Senators announced 
their withdrawal from the Senate of the United States. On 
the same day William H. Seward called up in the Senate the 
bill for the admission of Kansas and it was passed, 36 
to 16. It was then returned to the House and passed 
out of the regular order, 117 to 42, and on the 29th 
of January, the Act was signed by James Buchanan, Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, and that January day was there¬ 
after “Kansas Day.” 

127. Action of Legislature. —The fifth and last Terri¬ 
torial Legislature of Kansas met at Lecompton on the 2d of 
January, 1860, and in spite of the protests of Governor Medary, 
adjourned to Lawrence. The Governor and Secretary remain¬ 
ing at Lecompton, the Legislature adjourned sine die. The 
Governor called the Legislature to meet in special session at 
Lecompton. The Legislature met and passed a bill adjourn¬ 
ing to Lawrence; the Governor vetoed the bill and it was 
passed over his veto, and the Legislature assembled in 

87 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Lawrence. The Legislature passed a bill abolishing slavery 
in the Territory. Governor Medary vetoed the bill and wrote 
a long message. The bill was passed over his veto. This 
was the last. Governor Medary resigned in December, 1860, 
and was tendered a public dinner at Lawrence, in token of 
the appreciation felt for the dignity, firmness and impar¬ 
tiality with which he had performed his duties. George M. 
Beebe, Secretary of the Territory, became acting Governor, 
in which capacity he continued until the inauguration of the 
State Government, February 9, 1861. 

128. Territorial Governors. —With Samuel Medary 
ended the succession of Kansas Territorial Governors. They 
had nearly all been in a way distinguished men prior to their 
appearance in Kansas. Andrew H. Reeder, before his 
appointment as Governor of Kansas, had never held office, 
but had been for years one of the most eminent lawyers in 
Pennsylvania. Wilson Shannon had been twice elected Gov¬ 
ernor of Ohio, and a Representative in Congress, and had 
served as American Minister to Mexico. John W. Geary was 
a business man and the youngest of the company, but had 
served in the war with Mexico. He became, after the Kansas 
days, a Major-General in the Union army and Governor of 
Pennsylvania. Robert J. Walker had been a United States 
Senator from Mississippi, and Secretary of the Treasury 
during President Polk’s administration. During the Civil 
War Robert J. Walker was the devoted advocate of the Union, 
and negotiated the sale of $250,000,000 of United States 
bonds abroad. James W. Denver had represented California 
in Congress, and had served as Commissioner of Indian affairs. 
Samuel Medary was an editor of national reputation, and 
had served as Commissioner of Indian affairs. 


LAST OF TERRITORY AND FIRST OF STATE. 89 


129. Pony Express.— In April, 1859, started from St. 
Joseph, Mo., and across Kansas, the first “Pony Express” 
for San Francisco, to span the gap which then existed 
between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast, when the 
settlers demanded better mail and express facilities. The plan 
was to carry the mail on horseback, and, as rapid time was 
required, relays were stationed every twenty-five miles, at 
which fresh horses and riders were kept. The mail carrier, 
mounted on a spirited Indian pony, would leave St. Joseph 
at break-neck speed for the first relay station, swing from 
his pony, vault into the saddle of another standing ready, 
and dash on toward the next station. At every third relay 
a fresh rider took the mail. Through rain and sunshine, 
night and day, over mountain and plain, the wild rider con¬ 
tinued solitary and alone. The distance, 1,996 miles, was 
made in ten days. Then came the Wells & Fargo Express, 
next the Butterfield Overland Stage Company, and then the 
great railways. 

130. Lincoln Heralds the New Star. —The morning 
of the 30th of January, 1861, found Kansas a Free State of 
the Union. The first time the flag of the United States was 
raised over Independence Hall, with the added star of 
Kansas in the field, was on the 22d of February, 1861. In 
raising the flag, President-elect Lincoln said: “I am invited 
and called before you to participate in raising above Inde¬ 
pendence Hall the flag of onr country with an additional 
star upon it. I wish to call your attention to the fact that, 
under the blessing of God, each additional star added to 
that flag has given additional prosperity and happiness to 
this country.” The star of Kansas was raised above the 









LAST OF TERRITORY AND FIRST OF STATE. 91 

birthplace of Independence, on the birthday of Washington, 
by the hands of Lincoln, the Emancipator. 

131. Election of Officers.— On the 6th of December, 
1859, an election had been held under the 
Wyandotte Constitution for State officers 
and a Representative in Congress and 
members of the Legislature. The follow¬ 
ing persons were elected: Governor, 
Charles Robinson; Lieutenant-Governor, 
Joseph P. Root; Secretary of State, John 
P. Robinson; Treasurer, WilliamTholen; 
Auditor, GeorgeS. Hillyer; Superintend¬ 
ent of Public Instruction, Wm. B. Grif¬ 
fiths ; Chief Justice, Thomas Ewing, Jr.; Associate Justices, 
Samuel A. Kingman, Lawrence D Bailey; Attorney-General, 
Benjamin F. Simpson; Representative in Congress, Martin 
F. Conway. The admission of Kansas as a State, under 
the Wyandotte Constitution, made these the first State 
officers. Governor Robinson was sworn into office on 
the 9th of February, 1861, and requested the Legislature to 
convene on the 26th of March. 

132. Drought of I860.— The year 1860 was a notable 
one for the nation and for Kansas. Aside from the 
political strife and anxiety, Kansas witnessed the 
coming of the direst natural calamity recorded in the 
country’s history, ranking with the flood of ’44. From 
the 19th of June, 1859, until November, 1860, over 
sixteen months, not a shower fell to soak the earth. 
Vegetation perished save the prairie grass, which during 
the early spring and midsummer flourished along the 
ravines and creeks, and even when dried up by the 



Martin F. Conway. 





92 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


hot winds, cured suddenly into hay and so afforded feed 
for cattle. It is estimated that in this awful time 30,000 
emigrants left the country west of the Missouri, spreading 
the story of the disaster. In time, arrangements for sys¬ 
tematic aid for Kansas were organized in the East. Kansas 
was divided into two aid districts, S. C. 

Pomeroy being placed in charge of 
Northern, and W. F. M. Arny of Southern 
Kansas. The response from the great 
States of New York, Wisconsin, Indiana, 

Illinois, and Ohio was especially generous. 

More than 8,000,000 pounds of provisions 
and clothing, $85,000 in money, and 
2,500 bushels of seed wheat were received 
by the constituted “aid 77 authorities, and 
great amounts of “aid goods 77 were received from churches, 
societies and individuals. 

133. Shadow of Coming Events. —It was with the 
shadow of great privation still hanging over the State that 
the new State Government began its existence. There had 
been civil strife; the steps of famine had followed, and now 
were heard in the near distance the mutterings of war, which 
was to wrap the Nation in smoke and flame. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The House passes a bill to admit Kansas under the Wyandotte 

Constitution. 

2. The Senate, after rejecting the bill, passes it January 21,1861. 

3. President Buchanan signs the bill, January 29, 1861, which 

becomes 11 Kansas Day.” 

4. Coming of the drought of 1860. 

5. Kansas on the verge of war. 



W. F. M. Arnv. 




CHAPTER XV. 


THE FIRST LEGISLATURE. 

134. Place of Meeting*.— The first State Legislature 
met at Topeka, the temporary capital designated by the 
Wyandotte Constitution, on the 26th of March, 1861. 

The infant State possessed no build¬ 
ings of its own, and the House assembled 
in the Ritchie Block, burned many years 
ago, which then stood on the southeast 
corner of Sixth and Kansas Avenues, 
and the Senate in the Gale Block, a short 
distance south. The inconveniences of 
a leaky roof forced an adjournment of 
the House to the Congregational Church, 
where it concluded its sessions. The 
Legislature organized with Lieutenant-Governor Root as 
President of Senate, and Hon. W. W. Updegraff as Speaker 
of the House. 

135. Election of U. S. Senators.— On the 4th of April 

the Legislature elected the first two United States Senators 
from the State of Kansas. There was but one ballot, and 
there were many changes of votes. James H. Lane and 
Samuel C. Pomeroy were chosen. The final vote stood: 
James H Lane, 55; Samuel C. Pomeroy, 52; Marcus J. 
Parrott, 49; Fred. P. Stanton, 21; Mark W. Delahay, 2; 
S. D. Houston, 1; S. A. Kingman, 3; A. J. Isaacks, 11; 
Martin F. Conway, 1. 



93 







94 


HISTOEY OF KANSAS. 


136. Legislative Acts. —The Legislature remained in 
session until June. Its most important act was authorizing 
the issue of $150,000 in bonds to meet the current expenses 
of the State. Its most interesting historical act was the 
adoption of the great seal of the State, for which many 
designs were offered. The most striking feature of the 
design chosen is the motto r Ad Astra per Aspera , with 
which every Kansas child is familiar, and which was the 
suggestion of Hon. John James Ingalls. But the main 
business of this first Legislature of Kansas was with war. 



Seal of Kansas. 


A company was formed of officers and members of the 
Legislature, which, during the recess, day after day, was 
dialled by a member who had attended a military school 
and knew something of tactics. 

137. Kansas Responds to Lincoln’s Call.— On the 

15th of April President Lincoln issued his first call for 
75,000 men. 

On the 22nd of April the Legislature passed an act for 
the organization of the militia. Under the act, Governor 


THE FIRST LEGISLATURE. 


95 


Robinson organized 180 companies, divided into two divi¬ 
sions, four brigades and eleven regiments. On the 17th of 
April, five days after the firing on Sumter, Captain Samuel 
Walker, of Lawrence, tendered Governor Robinson a 
company of one hundred men. Within a week seven mili¬ 
tary companies had been formed in Douglas county alone. 

By the end of the month companies had been formed in 
nearly every county. In the latter days of May the 
organization of the First Kansas Volunteers was begun in 
Leavenworth. On the 3d of June, a party of volunteers 
from the First Kansas crossed the Missouri river from 
Leavenworth to Iatan, on the Missouri side, and captured 
a Confederate flag. In the affair three men were wounded. 
This was the first Kansas blood shed in the Civil War. 
The next day the Legislature adjourned. 

138. Topeka the Capital. —The Legislature of 1861 
provided for an election to be held on the 5th of November, 
1861, to determine the location of the State capital. 
Topeka received 7,996 votes, Lawrence 5,291, all others 
1,184, and Topeka was declared the capital. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The first Kansas Legislature met at Topeka, March 26, 1861. 

2. James H. Lane and Samuel C. Pomeroy elected United States 

Senators. 

3. Legislature issued bonds, adopted a seal and motto, and formed 

of its own members a military company. 

4. Kansas volunteeers are offered, and the militia is organized. 

5. The State capital was located at Topeka, November 5, 1861. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


CRADLED IN WAR. 

139. Kansas Soldiers. —The first year of Kansas as a 
State, found her “soul in arms, and eager for the fray/’ 
It may he said that for the four years that succeeded the 
firing on Fort Sumter, the thought, the occupation, the 
experience of Kansas was war. Everything gave place to 
meeting the responsibilities, and enduring the anxieties, 
sufferings, and losses of war. 

The United States census of 1860, gave Kansas 143,643 
inhabitants, of whom 34,242 were in the vicinity of Pike’s 
Peak. This population was greatly diminished by the 
“drought of 1860.” The entire quota assigned to Kansas 
during the Civil War was 16,654 men, and the number raised 
was 20,097; thus Kansas furnished a surplus of 3,433 men. 
In proportion to the force furnished, Kansas lost, in killed, 
more soldiers per 1,000 than any other State in the Union. 

There was never in the course of the struggle a man 
drafted in the State of Kansas, nor was there ever a bounty 
offered either by the State, or any city or county in the 
State. Troops were raised continually as called for from 
the first to the last. The First Kansas regiment was mus¬ 
tered June 3, 1861, the Seventeenth was mustered July 
28, 1864. 

140. The “Frontier Guard”.— The “Frontier Guard” 
was a body of men, who, for fifteen days, from April 18th 

96 


CRADLED IN WAR. 


97 


to May 3, 1861, before many troops had reached the city of 
Washington, guarded the White House and Mr. Lincoln. 
The “Guard’ 7 was commanded by General James H. Lane, 
and D. R. Anthony; Marcus J. Parrott, Sidney Clark, A. 

C. Wilder, Henry J. Adams, Mark W. 
Delahay, Samuel W. Greer, and many 
other Kansas men belonged to it. 

141. Volunteer Organizations.— 

The volunteer organizations sworn into 
the service of the United States were: The 
First, Second, Eighth, Tenth, Twelfth, 
Thirteenth, and Seventeenth Infantry, 
and First and Second Colored Infantry. 
The Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, 
Eleventh, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Cavalry. 
The First, Second, and Third Batteries, and Independent 
Colored Battery. In the course of the four years’ war, 
these commands saw service over a wide area. The First 
Kansas took part in the siege of Vicksburg, and saw service 
in Louisiana. The Seventh Cavalry took part in the opera¬ 
tions about Corinth, Miss., in western Tennessee and northern 
Mississippi. The Eighth Infantry fought at Perryville, Ky., 
Chickamauga, and Mission Ridge, marched east to Atlanta, 
and back again to Nashville, participated in the great battle 
of December, 1864, and saw its last active service in Texas. 
The Tenth Infantry took part in the battle of Nashville, the 
siege of Mobile, and the assault on Fort Blakely, and was 
mustered out at Montgomery, Ala. The Eleventh Cavalry 
carried its guidons to far Wyoming, 1,000 miles from Fort 
Leavenworth The First Kansas Battery was ordered to 
Indiana to meet the famous “Morgan raid,” and subse- 



Samuel W. Greer. 






98 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


quently served with the armies of Tennessee and Missis¬ 
sippi. The detachment from the Second Kansas Cavalry, 
known as Hollister’s and Hopkins’ battery, served in Ken¬ 
tucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, attached to the command 
of General Robert B. Mitchell of Kansas. The other com¬ 
mands as well as these did their work in Kansas, Missouri, 
Colorado, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory. 

142. The War in Kansas. —Kansas was open to 
attack on the east, south, and on the west, where the 
Indians served as a perpetual menace. The soldiers of 
Kansas were called alternately to repel invasion, and to 
penetrate the fastnesses of the enemy. The war was waged 
in a wide and almost wilderness country; a country of 
mountains, defiles and tangled woods and canebrakes, 
traversed by countless streams, rapid and roaring, or deep, 
winding and sluggish; but, for the most part, without 
bridges or ferries. In the thousands of miles of marching 
the Kansas soldiers often saw not a rod of smooth and 
settled highway; they moved by trails—by traces, over the 
hills and far away across the prairies, guided by the sun, 
the distant and random gun, the smoke of combat or 
vengeful burning. They were far from the region of great 
and decisive battles, of strategic combinations and foreseen 
results. The columns came and went, making forced 
marches for days and nights together; fighting a battle and 
winning a dear bought victory, to return whence they came. 
They fought, and marched, and camped in a region that 
was neither North nor South, and so possessed a climate 
with the evil features of both. They met the blinding sleet 
and snow; were drenched with tropical rainstorms, and 
braved alike the blazing fury of the sun, and the bitter 


CRADLED IN WAR. 


99 


malice of the frost. Far from their bases of supplies; food 
and powder must be brought a long, toilsome and 
dangerous way, guarded at every step, fought for at 
every ford and pass. It was a hard.and desperate warfare. 
For Kansas, the Civil War was but the continuation of the 
border troubles. The embers of that struggle had not been 
covered with the ashes of forgetfulness when they blazed 
again into direst flames. Along the border the war assumed 
the character of a vendetta; a war of revenge, and over all 
the wide field a war of combats; of ambushes and 
ambuscades, of swift advances and hurried retreats; of spies 
and scouts; of stealth, darkness and murder. All along 
the way men riding solitary were shot down; little 
companies killed by their camp fires; men fighting on both 
sides neither asking, giving, nor expecting mercy. 


143. Away from Home. —The first regiment to leave 
the soil of Kansas was the First Kansas 
Infantry, under command of Colonel 
George W. Deitzler, wdiich moved from 
Leavenworth to Kansas City, Mo., on the 
13th of June, 1861. The Second, under 
Colonel Robert Mitchell, from Lawrence, 
followed, and later, both regiments became 
a brigade of the army of General Nathaniel 
Lyon, under command of Colonel Dietzler, 
and on the 10th of August, 1861, stood 
‘Bloody Hill,” and fought out the battle 
of Wilson’s Creek. The Second was the last regiment to 
leave the field. After the battle of Wilson’s Creek, the 
First Kansas served in Missouri until the end of the year 
1861. The Second returned to Kansas to be reorganized. 



General George W. Deitzler. 

in battle array on 


100 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The field officers and several companies being assigned to 
the command'?)! the Second Kansas Cavalry. During 1861, 
the Kansas regiments and batteries were rapidly filled. 

144. Additional Regiments.— Shortly after the battle 
of Wilson’s creek, it was reported that General Price had 
organized a column for a demonstration 
against Fort Scott. This increased the 
interest in the organization of the Third, 

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Kansas 
Regiments, of which, on the day of 
Wilson’s creek, scarcely a battalion for 
each had been recruited. The companies 
in Southern Kansas were ordered to 
rendezvous at Fort Scott, and most of 
the companies in Northern Kansas were 
equipped at Fort Leavenworth. Many Union men from 
Missouri attempted, and some succeeded in reaching an 
asylum in Kansas. These enlisted in numbers in the 
forming Kansas regiments. 

By the middle of August, what came to be known as 
Lane’s Kansas Brigade, composed of the Third Kansas 
Infantry, Colonel Montgomery; the Fourth Kansas Infantry, 
Colonel Weer; the Fifth Cavalry, Colonel Hampton P. 
Johnson; the Sixth Cavalry, Colonel Wm. R. Judson; 
and the Seventh Cavalry, Colonel Chas. R. Jennison, 
numbered in all about 2,500 men. The brigade was gener¬ 
ally collected at Fort Scott. To the brigade was attached 
the First Kansas Battery. 

145. General Price’s Advance. —On the 1st of Sep¬ 
tember, General Price’s Confederate advance, under General 
Rains, had reached Dry wood, twelve miles east of Fort 



General Rob’t B. Mitchell. 






CKADLED IN WAK. 


10.1 


Scott, and a scouting party came in and drove off a herd 
of United States mules, grazing within two miles of the 
post. This piece of audacity led to the advance of a 
Union force, under Colonels Jennison and Johnson, and a 
sharp skirmish at Dry wood. 

After this came various movements, including the with¬ 
drawal of the Union forces from Fort Scott in the direction 
of the Little Osage, and the throwing up of the work 
known as Fort Lincoln. In the midst of the preparations 
for defense came the intelligence that General Price had 
abandoned his proposed invasion of Kansas, and had 
marched in the direction of Lexington. 

146. Kansas Troops in Missouri.— General Price 
accomplished his march to the Missouri, and forced the 
surrender of Colonel Mulligan and 2,500 men at Lexington. 
The Kansas brigade operated on the left flank of the enemy. 

Colonel Judson broke up the Missouri 
marauders, who had invaded the neutral 
lands, and the brigade advanced into 
Missouri, fought at Morristown, where 
Colonel Hampton P. Johnson, of the 
Fifth Kansas Cavalry, was killed, and 
on the 23rd of September, attacked 
Osceola, where a quantity of supplies 
had been accumulated for General Price’s 
army. These were burned, and also 
Osceola. The Kansas Brigade moved to Kansas City, 
arriving on the 30th of September, and at Fort Scott on 
the 15th of November. 

147. Service of the Indians. —In the early days of 
1862, over 6,000 Indians in the Indian Territory, who 



Colonel W. A. Phillips. 




102 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


adhered to the Government of the United States, drew 
together and fought the Indians who had joined the 
Confederacy, and several regiments of Texas Cavalry. In 
the dead of winter, and in the midst of a driving snow¬ 
storm, the loyal Indians, with their aged chief, Hopoeith- 
leyohola, fell back into Kansas. In their camps, on Fall 
River, they suffered greatly during the winter, but in the 
spring three mounted regiments were organized from these 
Indians. They were officered from 
Kansas regiments, many of the officers 
being from the Tenth Kansas, and^ later 
served in an Indian brigade commanded 
by Colonel William A. Phillips. 

148. Consolidation of Forces. —In 
March, 1862, the Third Kansas Infantry 
and the Fourth Kansas Infantry, and a 
portion of the Fifth Kansas Cavalry, 
were consolidated at Paola as the Tenth 
Kansas Infantry. Colonel Mongomery, of the Third, was 
transferred to the Second South Carolina Regiment, and 
Colonel Weer, of the Fourth, assumed the command of the 
new organization. The numbers “ Third’ ? and “ Fourth” 
do not again appear in Kansas military history. 

In May, 1862, the First, Seventh and Eighth Kansas 
Regiments left Leavenworth for Corinth, Miss. 

149. Colored Soldiers. —In November, the First Kan¬ 
sas colored regiment was organized at Fort Lincoln, near 
Fort Scott. Kansas now had soldiers white, red and black. 

150. Battle of Prairie Grove. —On the 5th of Decem¬ 
ber, 1862, General James G. Blunt “ marched to the sound 
of the firing,” joined his force to the already battling army 








CRADLED IN WAR. 


103 


of General Herron, and fought till the sun went down on 
the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark. On this field were gath¬ 
ered the largest number of Kansas troops, 
up to that time ever drawn together, there 
being represented the Sixth and Ninth, 
the Tenth and Eleventh and Thirteenth 
Regiments, and the Second Kansas Cav¬ 
alry. The guns of three Kansas batteries, 
commanded by Smith, Tenney and Stock- 
ton, did excellent service. 

Within the year, Blunt defeated the 
enemy at Newtonia, Old Fort Wayne, 
and Cane Hill, and closed it with the capture of Van 
Buren. 

151. Second State Election. —In November, 1862, 
occurred the second State election in Kansas. Thomas 
Carney was chosen Governor, with Thomas A. Osborn, 
Lieutenant-Governor; W. H. H. Lawrence, Secretary of 
State; Asa Hairgrove, Auditor; William 
Spriggs, State Treasurer; Warren W. 
Guthrie, Attorney General; Isaac T. 
Goodnow, Superintendent of Public- 
Instruction; John H. Watson, Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court; Lawrence 
D. Bailey, Associate Justice. A. Carter 
Wilder was elected Representative in 
Congress. 

152. Strife in Indian Territory.— 

In 1863, the Kansas fighting was transferred to the Indian 
Territory. Colonel William A. Phillips with his Indians, 
fought Colonel Coffey at Fort Gibson, which has been 



Judge L. D. Bailey. 



Gov. Thomas Carney. 








104 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


changed to Fort Blunt. Colonel James M. Williams, with 
the First Kansas, colored, 800 strong, and 300 Indians, 
defeated General Stand Watie at Cabin creek. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The census of 1860 gave Kansas 143,643 inhabitants. 

2. Kansas furnished a surplus of 3,433 men during the Civil War. 

3. Kansas lost more soldiers per 1,000 than any other State in 

the Union. 

4. The First and Second Kansas fight at Wilson’s Creek. 

5. The “Kansas Brigade” campaigned in Missouri. 

6. Indian and colored troops gave their services to Kansas. 

7. Kansas troops fought at Prairie Grove, Ark. 

8. Second State election, November, 1862. Thomas Carney the 

econd Governor. 



Monument of Maj. E. A. Ogden, Ft. Riley. 






















CHAPTER XVII. 


quantrell 7 s raid. 

153. Kansas’ Position. —Kansas, during the war, was 
exposed to three species of invasion and calamity: first, to 
the hostile approach of the regular forces of the Con¬ 
federacy; second, to the raids of Indians; and, third, to 
the attacks of guerillas, irregular troops, the scourge and 
curse of war. These predatory rangers, whose occupation 
was robbery, and whose pastime was murder, broke in 
many times. The places chosen were those without defences 
or garrison, where it was possible to plunder and kill with 
comparative safety. The most appalling of these disasters 
was QuantrelPs raid on Lawrence, on the morning of the 
21st of August, 1863. 

154. Recorders of the Event. —The story of the 
Quantrell raid has been written many times. No dire event 
in Kansas history has been described with more painful care. 
Rev. Dr. Richard Cordley, still of Lawrence, whose congre¬ 
gation was filled with death, and who said the first hurried 
prayers over the thronged and crowded corpses, wrote one of 
the first accounts of the tragedy. Mr. Hovey A. Lowman, a 
journalist, wrote another. After many years, Dr. Cordley, in 
his “History of Lawrence/ 7 has retold the strange eventful 
story, and Mr. John Speer, who was a witness and a sufferer, 
two of his sons being murdered, has of recent years, in his 
“Life of James H. Lane/ 7 referred-to the destruction, though 
shrinking from entering into the awful details. 

155. Attack a Surprise. —Now aging people, who talk 
over the Quantrell raid, as they still do, have not ceased to 

105 


106 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


wonder at it, that a town which had served as a rendezvous 
for troops through the war, should, on that morning, have 
had at hand no single armed military organization for its 
defense, and that an attacking force of between 300 or 400 men 



Eldridge House Ruins. 


should have ridden through forty miles of settled country from 
the Missouri border, without a single messenger reaching the 
doomed place with word of warning. At one point a Federal 
force was passed by the guerillas, and their character made 
out, and word was sent to Kansas City,but not to Lawrence. 
It was five o’clock in the still, summer morning when 
drowsy Lawrence was wakened by vengeful yells, the crash 
of revolvers, and the pattering hoof of horses. There was 
no defence. There were no defenders. The soldiers in the 
town were but a small body of recruits who were in camp, 
but had not yet received arms. These were nearly destroyed 




quantrell’s raid. 


107 


by what might be called a single volley. The militia com¬ 
pany of the place had stored their arms in their armory, and 
could not reach each other or their arms. 

156. The Massacre. —There was first the hurried murder 
of the charge, the guerillas firing on whoever they saw as they 
rode past, and afterward the deliberate and painstaking 
massacre, house by house, and man by man, which lasted 
for four hours. As is often the case in seasons of terror, as 
in shipwrecks, the women displayed the highest courage, 
struggling with their bare hands to save their houses from 
the flames, their sons and husbands from the swarming mur¬ 
derers. The town was robbed and burned, the black smoke 
rising in a great cloud in the still air. The Eldridge House, 
the successor of the old Free State Hotel, burned in 1856, 
was specially devoted to the flames. The safeguard given 
the guests and inmates of this hotel by Quantrell himself, 
was the one ray of mercy that illumined the darkness of the 
time. These were protected while he remained in the town. 
The guerillas, loaded with plunder, left unmolested. They 
avoided places that looked defensible, and a few Union 
soldiers on the north side of the river, firing across the 
stream, kept the neighborhood near the river bank cleared 
of enemies. There was no seeking for a combat. Those 
who were killed were non-combatants who died without an 
opportunity for defense. As the enemy drew off, General 
Lane and Lieutenant John K. Rankin gathered a handful 
of men, and pursued, but only sufficient in force to keep 
the enemy moving. 

157. Estimate of the Killed. —To this day the count 
of the dead and wounded on that fatal day varies. Mr. 
Speer estimates that 183 men and boys were killed. Dr. 


108 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Cordley says: “The number killed can never be exactly 
known. As nearly as can be ascertained there were 142. 
This included the missing who never returned, two or three. 
A few of the wounded died later, and possibly some were 
killed who were never heard of. One hundred and fifty 
would not be far out of the way for the whole number. It is 
estimated that the raid made eighty widows and 250 orphans. ’ ’ 

The inscription on the citizens’ memorial monument, raised 
in 1895 in Oak Hill cemetery, reads: “Dedicated to the 
memory of the 150 citizens, who, defenceless, fell victims to 
the inhuman ferocity of border guerillas, led by the infamous 
Quantrell in his raid upon Lawrence, August 21, 1863.” 

158. The Burial. —Nearly a week was filled with the 
gathering up and burial of the dead. Fifty-three bodies 
were laid in one trench. 

On the Sunday following the massacre, there was held in 
the old stone Congregational Church a service by the pastor, 
Rev. Dr. Cordley, and Rev. G. C. Morse of Emporia, wdiose 
brother-in-law, Judge Carpenter, was among the slain. 
There was na sermon, but instead there was read the Psalm: 
“Oh God, the heathen are come into their inheritance. 
They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. The dead bodies of thy 
servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the 
heaven, and the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the 
earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about 
Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.” 

159. Loss and Help.— The aggregate of loss of prop¬ 
erty would be hard to reach. “As careful an estimate 
as could be made,” says the early and late historian, 
“was about $1,500,000.” To the stricken city and its 
people, Kansas, though war scourged and poor, displayed 


quantrell ’s raid. - 109 

the utmost generosity, and help came from far as well 
as near. 

160. Massacre near Baxter Springs. —On October 6, 
1863, occurred the massacre of Blunt 7 s staff, near Baxter 
Springs. General Blunt and his escort were attacked by 
600 guerillas under Quantrell. Eighty of 
the party, with which were several civil¬ 
ians, were killed. General Blunt and fif¬ 
teen men held off the foe and escaped. The 
guerillas attacked a small post near, 
called Fort Blair, but were beaten off with 
loss. 

161. Battle of Pine Bluff. —On the 

25th of October, Colonel Powell Clayton, 
with the Fifth Kansas Cavalry and the 
First Indiana Cavalry, successfully defended Pine Bluff, 
Ark., against a superior Confederate force under General 
Marmaduke. 

162. Battle of Poison Springs. —Kansas troops took 
part in the ill-fated Camden expedition under General Steele, 
and portions of the Sixth, Second and Fourteenth Kansas 
Cavalry and 500 men of the First Kansas, colored, with two 
howitzers of the Sixth Cavalry, were engaged at the battle of 
Poison Springs, Ark., and later in the severe fight at Jenkins 
Ferry, at the crossing of the Saline river. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Kansas endangered on all sides. 

2. Quantrell’s raid adds a dark chapter to the history. 

3. The Kansas troops are engaged with varying fortune in Arkansas 

and the Indian Territory. 








CHAPTER XVIII. 


THE CLOSING SCENE. 

163. The Situation—Confederate.— In 1864, in con¬ 
sequence of the failure of General Banks’ Red river expedi¬ 
tion, and of General Steele’s Camden expedition, the 
Confederate situation in Louisiana, the Indian Territory 
and Arkansas became temporarily improved. The Con¬ 
federate armies were strengthened in arms, clothing, and 
even artillery, by captures made in the campaign men¬ 
tioned. General Sterling Price was reported to have 10,000 
veteran troops in a good state of equipment, and his ranks 
were nearly doubled, in numbers, at least, by a severe con¬ 
scription in Arkansas. 

164. Union Situation. —During the summer of 1864, 
the Union forces in Arkansas were principally concentrated 
in Little Rock and Fort Smith. In September, 1864, when 
the rumors of a move northward on the part of General 
Price began to thicken, the forces available for the defence 
of western Missouri and Kansas were scattered. General 
Curtis had taken the field against the Indians, and was 
operating from Fort Kearney, and General Blunt had 
assumed command of the district of Upper Arkansas, and 
was in pursuit of the Indians beyond Fort Larned. 

Major-General Sykes, U. S. A., was in command at 
Lawrence of a small and scattered force of Kansas troops 
which was charged with the duty of keeping up communi- 

110 


THE CLOSING SCENE. 


Ill 


cations and supplies with Forts Gibson and Smith, and the 
forces in southeastern Kansas, which lines were threatened 
by the enterprising General Gano. 

165. General Price Moves Northward.— General Price 
crossed the Arkansas at Dardanelle, between Little Rock 
and Fort Smith. His army was divided into three divisions 
commanded by Generals Fagan, Marmaduke, and Shelby. 
Among the generals of brigade and colonels were nearly all 
the surviving officers who had fought west of the Missis¬ 
sippi and north of Louisiana from 1861 to 1864. The 
number of the Confederates at the crossing of the Arkansas 
was estimated at 18,000 men. As General Price’s main 
body moved northward, the forces under General Gano, 
Colonel Brooks, Major Buck Brown; and the Cherokee, 
Stand Watie, manifested much activity as if to distract the 
attention of the Union commanders. After Price entered 
Missouri his force received large acces¬ 
sions. 

166. Major Hopkins’ Train Cap¬ 
tured. —Colonel Blair, at Fort Scott, 
received early dispatches from Colonel 
Wattles, of the Second Indian regiment 
at Fort Gibson, stating that Gano, 

Cooper, and Maxey were moving as if 
to cross the Arkansas, and that Price 
had 15,000 men. On the 12th of Sep¬ 
tember the escort of a large supply train consisting of 610 
cavalry and infantry, White and Indian, commanded by Major 
Henry Hopkins, was attacked at Cabin Creek, Cherokee 
Nation, by 2,500 of the enemy under General Gano, and 
the train captured and burned. It was a very serious loss. 



Gen. Chas. W. Blair. 




112 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


167. General Ewing’s Retreat.— In the meantime, 
General Rosecrans, commanding at St. Louis, seemed 
uncertain as to the strength and direction of the enemy’s 
movement. But there was no longer room for doubt after 
the 24th of September, and General Thomas Ewing pro¬ 
ceeded to Pilot Knob, where he was 
attacked, on the 27th of September, by 
Price’s army. General Ewing made a 
steady defence, but finally blew up his 
magazine at Pilot Knob, and fell back, 
and from this point Kansas names begin 
to figure in the history. 

The rear guard of the little column 
was placed under command of Major 
Williams of the Tenth Kansas. The 
pursuing column was checked from time to time, and at 
last General Ewing reached Rolla, where the infantry of 
his force remained in garrison, and the cavalry marched 
with General McNeil to Jefferson City. It is believed that 
General Ewing’s resistance saved St. Louis. 

168. Concentration of Forces. —On the 2d of October 
General Rosecrans reported to General Curtis that Price 
was moving westward, and the concentration of Kansas 
militia began at Olathe. A force of 6,000 men was col¬ 
lected at Jefferson City, of which 4,000 were cavalry, com¬ 
posing the Provisional Cavalry Division under General 
Alfred Pleasonton. 

169. Call for Volunteers.— On the 8th of October, 
Governor Carney issued his proclamation calling out the 
“men of Kansas,” and announcing Major-General Deitzler 
as commander-in-chief. This officer ordered the men to 



General Thos. Ewing. 






THE CLOSING SCENE. 


113 


rendezvous at Atchison, under Brigadier-General Byron 
Sherry; at Olathe, under Brigadier-General M. S. Grant; 
and at Paola under Brigadier-General S. N. Wood. 

170. The Response. —The response of the “men of 
Kansas” was immediate. Says Adjutant-General Holliday 
in his report: “Never was appeal for help answered so 
promptly. In most instances, on the next day, or the 
second, after the receipt of the proclamation at regimental 
headquarters, the regiment itself in full force was on the 
march for the rendezvous.” 

The whole number of Kansas militia who appeared for 
active service exceeded 16,000 men. Many of the officers 
serving in the militia had seen service in the volunteers. 
The Twenty-third Regiment, 550 men, raised in Wyandotte, 
chose as its commander, the veteran, Colonel William Weer. 

171. Battle of Lexington.— On the receipt of the news 
that Price had passed Jefferson City, and occupied Lex¬ 
ington, General Blunt relieved General Sykes at Olathe. 
On the 16th of October, 1864, General Blunt moved to 
Lexington with two brigades of cavalry. General Blunt, 
early on his arrival, inspected the position with his aides, 
Hon. James H. Lane and Lieutenant-Colonel Burris. On 
the approach of Price’s advance the fight was opened by a * 
portion of the Fifteenth Kansas under Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hoyt. As the column fell back before the overwhelming 
mass of the enemy, the movement was covered by the 
Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, Colonel Moonlight, with four 
howitzers, the Third Wisconsin Cavalry battalion, and 
Companies A and D of the Sixteenth Kansas; a company 
of Missouri enrolled militia under Captain Grover, and a 
small body of Kansas State militia. As the little column 


114 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


was flanked by the enemy it would fall back and form 
another line, thus keeping up a fight for six miles, 2,000 
against 28,000. In the darkness the command fell back 
toward Independence, bivouacking a few miles from the 
Little Blue. At sunrise, Colonel Moonlight was left to 
defend the bridge at the Little Bine while possible, and the 
balance of the division fell back on Independence. 

172. Battle of the Little Blue. —In the morning began 
the battle of the Little Blue. There were ready Colonel 
Moonlight with 600 men and four mountain howitzers, and 
then came Colonel James H. Ford (for whom the Kansas 
Ford county is named), and the Second Colorado Cavalry, 
under Major Nelson H. Smith (destined to die that day, 
and to give his name to Smith county), and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Sam Walker, the old “Border Troubles’’ fighter, 
and the Colorado Battery, Captain McLain, and then came 
up the Fourth, Twelfth, and Nineteenth Kansas militia 
regiments, and then it was fire the bridge, and fall back 
slowly and fight the enemy, who came’ swarming through 
the shallow stream. After this hard work, General Blunt 
came on the field and formed a new line, which did not 
contain over 2,500 men. Then there was fighting, eight 
hours of it in all, and our little army was back at Inde¬ 
pendence. There were 600 men to begin, and 2,500 to 
close, and a loss of about 200. 

173. Battle of the Big Blue .—The entire force under 
General Curtis rested on the west bank of the Big Blue, on 
the road leading from Independence to Kansas City, on the 
night of October 21, 1864. The transportation was sent 
back to Kansas City, where, and at Wyandotte, guns were 
fired during the night to warn the militia. Among the 


THE CLOSING SCENE. 


115 


troops on the Blue was the Sixth Kansas State militia, 
commanded by Colonel James Montgomery, who, during 
much of the war, had been away on the Atlantic Coast and 
in Florida commanding a colored regiment. Before all who 
camped that night along the winding 
stream, there lay a troubled day. 

The Big Blue may be crossed only at 
fords, and the battle of the 21st consisted 
largely of the attack and defence of these 
fords. The point that became most 
famous during the day was Byrom’s 
ford. Here the enemy, after a heavy 
fight, succeeded in crossing, and the 
Union forces were crowded back toward 
Westport, but in turn the Confederates were themselves 
pressed back. At sundown General Joe Shelby had retired 
to the line of the Blue and the Union troops to Westport. 

The tragedy of the day was the overwhelming of the 
Second Kansas State Militia, Colonel Veale, supporting a 
single gun at the Mocabee farm. The desperate fight around 
the gun resulted in a. loss to the battalion of thirty killed, 
fifty wounded and 102 captured. 

The command was from Shawnee county. The dead, at 
the close of the war, were interred in the city cemetery at 
Topeka, and a stately monument has been reared to mark 
their resting place by their comrade, G. G. Gage. 

174. Movements Before Westport.— At 4 o’clock on 
Saturday evening, the 22d, the left and centre of the Union 
army fell back to Kansas City and were placed in the 
intrenchments there. General Curtis faced the foe with his 
volunteers in Westport and his militia in Kansas City. The 




116 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Confederate line ran along the Blue from Byrom’s ford to 
beyond Russell 7 s ford. 

General Pleasonton, spoken of before as being at Jefferson 
City with the Provisional Division of Cavalry, had followed 
after Price’s army, and, attacking the enemy’s rear division, 
had occupied Independence. Three brigades, Sanborn’s, 
Brown’s and Winslow’s were on the road to Byrom’s ford; 
McNeil with another brigade was moving toward Hickman’s 
mill, and, beside, 10,000 infantry under Major-General 
A. J. Smith-were moving from Lexington to Independence. 

175. Battle of Westport. —At five o’clock on the fate¬ 
ful Sunday morning, the brigade of Colonel Blair, consisting 
of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth and Nineteenth Kansas 
State Militia, moved out of the intrenchments with the 
Ninth Wisconsin Battery and the Kansas Colored Batte^. 
The First, Third and Fourth Brigades, under Colonels Jenni- 
son, Moonlight and Ford were already 
moving. Soon the battle was resumed. 
There were charges and countercharges; 
hand to hand combats in some instances. 
Fights stubborn behind the stone walls, 
and fights rapid to carry them. The 
artillery everywhere firing from every 
point of vantage, the guns sometimes in 
danger and saved by a rush, and finally 
a general movement forward. Eighteen 
brass Parrott guns and thirteen howitzers opened at once 
on the lines of the enemy, who were falling back bravely 
and steadily. There was great cheering; the militia came 
pouring into the field and the open prairie was reached, 
when a heavy column of cavalry emerged from the timber 





THE CLOSING SCENE. 


117 


and deployed about a mile to the east, and Pleasonton 
charged. 

176. Retreat of General Price.— The movement of 
General Price’s army southward had begun before this last 
collision, and by sunrise on the 24th the rear had moved 
eight or ten miles to the south of Westport, and that day a 
column of 10,000 men was moving in pursuit through the 
border of Missouri. While this movement was effected, 
Colonel Moonlight, with another division, moved southward 
along the Kansas border, interposing, as far as possible, 
between the enemy and the State, through a country abso¬ 
lutely desolated by war. For fifty miles not an inhabitant 
was to be seen. 

177. Battle of Mine Creek. —The retreating army, how¬ 
ever, crowded into Kansas near West Point, still moving 
southward. The pursuit became closer, there were combats 
at the Trading Post ford and at the Mounds, and on the 
25th of October the decisive battle of Mine Creek was fought 
on Kansas soil, where 800 prisoners and nine guns were 
captured, and many officers of high rank, including Generals 
Marmaduke and Cabell, fell into our hands, while General 
Graham was killed and General Slemmons was mortally 
wounded. 

178. Defeat of Price at Newtonia. —From the fields of 
Mine Creek and the Little Osage, the enemy was pressed 
with such vigor as to force him to abandon the intention of 
attacking Fort Scott, which was instead occupied by our 
rescuing force, and he was followed back into Missouri and 
finally defeated at Newtonia, where the prisoners of the 
Second Kansas Militia, taken by the enemy at the Little Blue, 
were paroled and rejoined their friends. 


118 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


179. Farewell of General Curtis. —From the head¬ 
quarters of the Army of the Border, Camp Arkansas, on 
the 8th of November, 1864, General Curtis issued his con¬ 
gratulatory order, saying: “In parting, the General tenders 
his thanks to the officers and soldiers for their generous 
support and prompt obedience to orders, and to his staff 
for their unceasing efforts to share the toil incident to the 
campaign. The pursuit of Price in 1864, and the battles 
of Lexington, Little Blue, Big Blue,- Westport, Marais des 
Cygnes, Osage, Chariot, and Newtonia, will be borne on 
the banners of the regiments who shared in them; and the 
States of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, 
Wisconsin, and Arkansas, may glory in the achievement of 

their sons in this short but eventful 
campaign . 1 

On the 9th of November, 1864, the 
day following the issuance of this order, 
General Curtis moved toward Fort Scott 
by way of Fort Gibson, and General 
Blunt moved to Fort Smith and thence 
to Fort Leavenworth. The official and 
authentic history of the part taken by 
Governor Samuel j. Crawford. Kansas volunteers and militia in this 
campaign is contained in the report of Adjutant-General 
C. K. Holliday, published in December, 1864. 

180. Election 1864. —November 8, 1864, occurred the 
general election in Kansas, resulting in the choice of Samuel 
J. Crawford, Governor; James McGrew, Lieutenant-Gover¬ 
nor; R. A. Barker, Secretary of State; J. R. Swallow, 
Auditor of State; William Spriggs, State Treasurer; J. D. 
Brumbaugh, Attorney-General; Jacob Safford, Associate 




THE CLOSING SCENE. 


119 


Justice. Sidney Clark was elected Representative in Con¬ 
gress. Abraham Lincoln received the first vote of Kansas 
for President of the United States. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Outlook dark for Kansas and Missouri defence. 

2. General Price, advancing northward with 18,000 men, gathers 

recruits. 

3. General Gano captures Major Hopkins’ train at Cabin creek. 

4. General Ewing falls back, disputing the way with the enemy, 

and saves St. Louis. 

5. The men of Kansas respond to the call of Governor Carney, 

and 16,000 take the field. 

6. Stubborn fighting at Lexington, Little Blue, Big Blue, and 

Westport, ends in victory. 

7. A long pursuit of Price’s army, and battles at Mine Creek, 

Osage, and Newtonia. 

8. General Curtis congratulates the Kansas soldiers. 

9. Second State election; Samuel J. Crawford elected Governor. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


PEACE AND HONOR. 

181. Advent of Peace. —With the closing of the ‘ ‘Price 
raid” campaign, ended, generally, the fighting days of the 
Kansas regiments, although the Eighth Infantry fought at 
Nashville, in December, and the Eleventh Cavalry had an 
encounter with the Indians at Red Buttes, Dak., as late as 
the 26th of March, 1865. 

Then came the home-coming of the Kansas regiments and 
batteries, and on the 8th of April, 1865, at Leavenworth, 
was held a great jubilee over the Union victories and the 
end of the war. 

182. Kansas Officers Commissioned.— The following 
general officers- from Kansas were commissioned by Presi¬ 
dent Lincoln during the war: 

Major-General James G. Blunt, Brigadier-Generals Rob¬ 
ert B. Mitchell, Albert L. Lee, George W. Deitzler, Thomas 
Ewing, Jr., Powell Clayton. 

The Kansas officers made Brigadier-Generals by brevet 
were: Wm. R. Judson, Thomas Moonlight, Charles W. 
Blair, James Ketner, John Ritchie, John A. Martin, Edwarcl 
F. Schneider, Charles W. Adams and Thomas M. Bowen. 

183. Colonel Cloud Honored.— When, in 1865, it came 
to the choice, by Governor Crawford, of officers of the State 
militia, there was an abundance of military talent and 
experience to choose from. Colonel William F. Cloud was 

120 ' 



PEACE AND HONOR. 


121 


commissioned as Major-General. He had seen service as 
Major and Colonel of the Second Kansas Cavalry, and then 
as Colonel of the Tenth Kansas Infantry, and last had gone 
through the “Price raid” campaign, on the stall. His civil 
and military record is remembered in the name of a Kansas 
county. 

184. State Historical Society.— The record of the two 

wars in which Kansas was so early in her history engaged, 
the warfare forced on her people to make the State free, and 
the war for the preservation of the 
Union, has been well kept. Through 
the exertions of the State Historical 
Society, which has known through nearly 
all its history but one secretary, Judge 
Franklin G. Adams, there has been gath¬ 
ered a great store of public reports and 
private letters; the annals of the war; 
journals written up by soldiers by the 
camp-fire’s light, and amid the echoes of 
battle; here may be seen gathered the “bruised arms” used 
in many a savage fray. In these collections is illustrated 
all the story of Kansas from the earliest time; here are the 
rude implements and weapons of the Indians; the stained 
and w r orn manuscript journal of the missionary, who strove 
to save the Indian from his fate; the maps and charts of 
the early explorers; the account books of the fur traders; 
the evidences of the first hard life of 'the pioneers, the 
advanced guard; and so on, showing in outward and visible 
signs the road followed to a finished and intense civilization. 

185. State Treasures. —In the care of the State itself 
are preserved the flags of the Kansas regiments and 



Franklin G. Adams. 






122 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


batteries; in the care of the Historical Society is kept their 
written and printed story, and the mute evidences of its 
truth. 

The battle flags of the Kansas regiments and batteries 
were formally presented to Governor Crawford, at a 
Soldier’s celebration, held at Topeka, on the 4th of July, 
1866, and since have remained in the careful care of the 
State. 

On the map of the State are preserved, in the names of 
counties, the names of Kansas soldiers—Mitchell, Cloud, 
Trego, Norton, Clark, Harper, Rooks, Rush, Russell, 
Stafford, Cowley, Graham, Jewell, Osborne, Ellis, Gove, 
Pratt, Ness and Hodgeman. Governors Crawford and 
Harvey, whose names are borne by counties, were officers in 
Kansas regiments. Alfred Gray and Dudley Haskell saw 
service with Kansas troops. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Peace is within thy walls and prosperity in thy palaces. 

2. President Lincoln commissions many Kansas Generals. 

3. The State Historical Society has faithfully preserved the annals 

of the war, and records of the progress of Kansas. 

4. The map of Kansas is covered with brave names. 


CHAPTER XX. 


BUILDING THE STATE. 

186. State Officials During* Civil War. —During the 

years of the Civil War, Kansas made but slow progress in 
the^accumulation of population and material wealth. The 
machinery of the civil State moved with regularity. Gover¬ 
nor Robinson was succeeded, in 1863, by Governor Carney, 
and Martin F. Conway by A. Carter Wilder as Representa¬ 
tive in Congress. In 1865 Governor Carney was succeeded 
by Governor Samuel J. Crawford, and James H. Lane 
succeeded himself as United States Senator. 

187. Educational Advancement.— Preliminary steps 
were taken, in .1863, for the establishment of the State 
University at Lawrence, the State Agricultural College at 
Manhattan, and the State Normal School at Emporia. It 
was, in spite of war’s alarms, a period of foundations and 
beginnings. The State, even in the midst of war, contin¬ 
ued the first works of the troubled Territorial period, when 
Baker University, an institution still enjoying a prosperous 
growth, was established as early as 1857. 

188. Homestead Law. —An event having a most 
important bearing on the life and prosperity of Kansas, 
was the passage of the Homestead Law, on the 20th of May, 
1862. The bill had been introduced in the House by 
Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania. It had once been vetoed by 
President Buchanan. It was signed by President Lincoln, 

123 


124' % 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


and took effect on the 1st of January, 1863. Within ten 
years thereafter twenty-six millions of acres of the public 
lands were entered by homestead settlers. 

The law, in substance, gave a title from the United 
States to the actual settler who held the 160 acres for five 
years. The Homestead Law was an answer to those who 
demanded “land for the landless,” and who sang: “Uncle 
Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm.” At the close 
of the Civil War, a great many men who had served in the 
Union army were left with lands and homes to seek, and 
the law was so amended that the homesteader might deduct 
from the five years' residence required by the law, the time 
passed by him in the military or naval service of his 
country. With the close of the war, a great ex-soldier 
immigration poured into Kansas. 

189. First Railroad. —The system of land grant rail¬ 
roads was also a great element in the settlement of the 
country. Kansas went in early for railroads. The Terri¬ 
torial Legislatures granted charters for extensive lines. 
The first railroad iron ever laid in Kansas was put down at 
Elwood, opposite St. Joseph, Mo., on the Marysville & 
Elwood Railroad, on the 20th of March, 1860, but drought 
and war intervened to prevent extensive railroad building 
in Kansas at that time. 

190. Grant to A. T. & S. F. Railroad.— The policy 
of subsidizing the railroads in lands and bonds by the 
general Government was diligently labored for by Kansas 
men at Washington. In 1863, Congress made to the State 
of Kansas a grant of land, giving alternate sections, one 
mile square, ten miles in width, amounting to 6,400 acres, a 
mile on either side of a proposed line running from Atchi- 


BUILDING THE STATE. 


125 


son via Topeka, to some point on the southern or western 
boundary of the State in the direction of Santa Fe, with a 
branch from some point on the southern line of Kansas to 
the City of Mexico. This grant the State of Kansas trans¬ 
ferred to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Com¬ 
pany, February, 1864. This grant amounted, as it turned 
out, to some 3,000,000 acres of land. 

191. Grant to the Union Pacific Railroad.— The 
Eastern Division of the Union Pacific, on which work was 
begun on the State line of Kansas and Missouri in Novem¬ 
ber, 1863, it being the first road started from the Missouri 
to the Pacific—eventually received a grant of alternate 
sections, twenty miles in width, and amounting to 12,800 
acres to the mile. The grant extended 394 miles west from 
the Missouri river, and amounted to some 6,000,000 acres. 
Other lines extending through Kansas received subsidies, 
but these two, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the 
Union Pacific Eastern Division, later called the Kansas 
Pacific, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, were the lar¬ 
gest grantees of land. Besides these grants the railroads 
acquired large tracts of Indian lands. 

192. Other Grants. —In February, 1866, the Legis¬ 
lature gave to four different railroad companies, 500,000 
acres grafited to Kansas under the Act of September, 1841, 
the lands to be sold for the benefit of the railroad com¬ 
panies, by an agent appointed by the Governor. The 
objection, however, being made, that Article VII, of the 
Ordinance to the Constitution of Kansas, states, “that the 
500,000 acres of land to which the State is entitled under 
the Act of Congress, entitled ‘an act to appropriate the 
proceeds of the sale of public lands, and grant pre-emption 


126 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



rights/ approved September 4, 1841, shall be granted to 
the State for the support of common schools .” The land 
grant policy was in after years the subject of severe criti- 


Stone Dugout, Osborne, Kan. 


cism, and caused extensive litigation between the settlers 
and the railroad companies, but at the time of its adoption 
was popular in Kansas. The organized counties voted 
large amounts of bonds to the roads, and the progress of 
the roads for a time was the progress of the State. The 
grants of land facilitated the building of the roads, and in 
Kansas the railroads preceded instead of following the 
settltoent, greatly accelerating the old process of filling a 
country with a wagon immigration. The land grant com¬ 
panies sold their lands at low rates, and on long time, and 
the alternate sections reserved by the Government were 


BUILDING THE STATE. 


127 



sold at $2.50 an acre, while beyond the “railroad limit,” 
the homesteader pushed in everywhere. 

193. The Pioneer. —The United States land offices 
which, in the Territorial days, were located along the line of 
the Missouri river, were moved westward from time to time 
to accommodate the host of claim seekers, who, in some 
instances, remained about the offices the entire night to 
await their opening in the morning. In the Concordia 
land district alone, in the year 1871, 932,715 acres of land 
were entered under the Homestead Act. 

The homesteader has been styled the “Pilgrim Father” 
of Kansas. He left the great highways of travel and 


Sod Schoolhouse, Osborne County, Kan. 

sought the vast, open country. From the thin line of tim¬ 
ber skirting the stream, he might gather a few logs to build 
his cabin, but more often he shaped his habitation in or of 



128 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


the earth itself, a dugout or a sodhouse, the walls built up 
of strips of prairie sod turned over by the plow, the roof 
often covered with marl, or natural lime, as it was called, 
from the bottom of the prairie draw. Here, with his wife 
and children, lived in the first hard years the homesteader, 
under the vast sky, girt about by an immense and remote 
horizon. And not alone did the homesteader use the sod 
wherewith to rear his residence and out-buildings; the 
“prairie lumber yard” had public uses also. The first 
schoolhouse for the settlers’ children was built of sod, and 
in the settlement of Jewell county, a fort of sod fifty yards 
square, with walls seven feet high and four feet thick, was 
built; and within the enclosure was dug the first well in the 
county. 

• At first the buffalo in their migrations came near, wander¬ 
ing up to the settler’s door, but as the vast herds which had 
furnished the Indians with food and clothing for untold 
centuries, without apparent diminution, retreated westward, 
he followed them, making an annual campaign against 
them in his wagon, which he loaded with meat. When 
there was nothing left of them save their bleaching bones, 
he gathered these up and hauled them to the distant rail¬ 
road station, where they accumulated in great white piles. 
Thus he added to his slender store of ready money. From 
Hays City, in May, 1875, the shipments of bones amounted 
to twenty tons a day. 

194. Election of Senators. —The Legislature of 1867 
re-elected Samuel C. Pomeroy to the United States Senate, 
for the long term, and for the short term elected Edmund 
G. Ross, who had been appointed by Governor Crawford to 
fill the unexpired term of James H. Lane. 


BUILDING THE STATE. 


129 


195. James H. Lane. —On the evening of Sunday 
July 1, 1866, General James H. Lane, while riding in a 
carriage with Mr. McCall and Captain Adams, on the 
Government farm at Fort Leavenworth, sprang from the 
vehicle as it stopped at a gate, uttered the words, 
“Good-bye, Mac/ 7 placed the muzzle of 
a pistol to his mouth and fired. The 
ball passed directly through the brain 
and emerged from the upper center of 
the cranium. With this terrible wound 
he survived for ten days, at times appar¬ 
ently conscious, dying at 11.55 A. M. of 
Wednesday, July 11, 1866. At the time 
of his death, General Lane was serving 
his second term as a United States Senator from Kansas, 
and was in the prime of his years. 

In his lifetime, the year and place of his birth was a 
matter of controversy. In a list of the members of the 
Topeka Constitutional Convention he is enrolled as a native 
of Kentucky, thirty-three years of age, and a lawyer by 
profession. He was born at Lawreneeburg, Ind., on the 
22d of June, 1814. He was the son of Amos Lane, first 
Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and a 
judge and member of Congress from that State. His 
mother was of an old and honorable New England family. 
At thirty years of age, he enlisted as a private in the Third 
Indiana Volunteers, to serve in the Mexican War. He was 
promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, displayed con¬ 
spicuous gallantry at Buena Vista, and later commanded 
the Fifth Indiana Volunteers. After the war he was elected 
Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana, Presidential Elector-at- 



James H. Lane. 







130 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Large, and a member of the Congress which passed the 
Kansas-Nebraska Act, for which he voted. 

In 1855, the year after the passage of that Act, he came 
to Kansas and'to Lawrence. His latest biographer, and 
devoted and intimate friend, Hon. John Speer, speaks thus 
of the event: 

“ One bright morning in April, 1855, as Lane was pass¬ 
ing with his team over the hill where the State University 
now stands, he halted and walked into the little hamlet now 
called Lawrence, named but without a charter, carrying a 
jug to fill with water to pursue his journey westward, but 
meeting a man named Elwood Chapman, who offered to 
sell him a ‘claim,’ he purchased and ended his journey.” 
He entered the town which was to be his home and the 
field of an eventful and distinguished career, a Democrat 
from Southern Indiana, who had voted in Congress for the 
Kansas-Nebraska Act. On the 14th of August, 1855, he 
participated in what is spoken of by the annalist as ‘ ‘ the 
first convention in Lawrence of Free State men of all 
parties,” and from that time forward he was what he later 
avowed himself, “ a crusader of freedom.” Tireless, inde¬ 
fatigable, alert, full of audacity, endless in plans and 
resources, he was everywhere, in war, in peace, in combat, 
in diplomacy, in battle and treaty. He was early an advo¬ 
cate of the “Topeka Government,” the first organized 
effort for the admission of Kansas as a Free State. He 
was a member of the Free State Executive Committee, of 
which Charles Robinson was chairman. ’He reported the 
platform of the Big Springs Convention; he was President 
of the Topeka Constitutional Convention. When Kansas 
appealed to the North he became a national character; he 


BUILDING THE STATE. 


131 


was called “Jim Lane, of Kansas/ 7 In April, he addressed 
the Legislature of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg; in May, 
he spoke to a great meeting in Chicago, where $15,000 was 
raised for Kansas. 

When Kansas became a State of the Union, he was 
elected, after a memorable struggle, one of the first United 
States Senators; and then came the great Civil War, in 
which he exhibited that strange blending of qualities, 
capacities and dispositions, which belonged to him alone. 
He raised whole brigades, and commanded one of them in 
the field, even without a commission. He retained all 
through the period of storm the confidence of the com¬ 
mander-in-chief of our armies, as well of the head of the 
State. He saw the last of the fighting on the Kansas 
border. 

In 1865, he was re-elected United States Senator almost 
without opposition. 

A year later, as a Senator, he advocated the policy of 
President Johnson, and broke with Kansas. He made a 
bold fight for his long supremacy. It seemed, at times, 
that he would win it back, but he knew at last that there 
was nothing to hope. Those who knew him best said that 
the thought drove him to madness and to death. 

He was a remarkable man. In the strange power of his 
speech there has been no other like him in Kansas. He 
made many enemies, but attached friends to himself as 
with hooks of steel, who remember him only as the 

Crusader of Freedom. 7 7 

The vacancy in the United States Senate, occasioned by 
the death of General Lane, was filled temporarily by the 
appointment, on the 20th of July, 1866, by Governor 


132 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Samuel J. Crawford, of Hon. Edmund G. Ross, who was 
subsequently elected by the Legislature to fill the unexpired 
term of Senator Lane. Senator Ross had served the State, 
in the field, in the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, attaining the 
rank of Major and brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, and was 
one of the framers of the Wyandotte Constitution. He 
remained in the Senate until 1871. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The Homestead law giving bona fide settlers 160 acres of land, 

passed May 20, 1862. 

2. Large grants of land were given to the A., T. & S. F., the Union 

Pacific, and other railroad companies. 

3. The railroads gave wonderful impetus to immigration, proving 

one of the greatest factors in the development of Kansas’. 

4. The Pioneers, the Pilgrim Fathers of Kansas. 

5. Samuel C. Pomeroy re-elected, and Edmund G. Ross elected to 

the United States Senate. 

6. The death of General James H. Lane removes from Kansas a 

remarkable and distinguished personality. 


CHAPTER XXI. 


THE INDIAN WARS. 

196. The Early Peril. —While the Kansas frontiersman 
was thus holding the picket line of civilization, he was 
exposed for years to the incursions of a ruthless enemy, 
who came and went with the uncertainty of the wind—the 
Indian. The Civil War had not ended before the State was 
endangered by the incursions of the savages. The Indians, 
in 1864, had become so formidable that Generals Curtis and 
Blunt had planned a campaign against them, but were 
recalled from it to meet the advancing Confederates of 
General Price. 

197. Indian Raids. —In 1865 and 1866 the Indians 
came into the northwestern valleys and murdered settlers 
on White Rock creek in Republic county, and at Lake 
Sibley in Cloud county, and these outrages were followed 
by an Indian raid in the Solomon valley. Troops were 
ordered from Fort Ellsworth to the Solomon valley by 
General Hancock, and a company of State militia took the 
field and held off the Indians for a time. The building of 
the Union Pacific through Kansas, in 1867, excited the 
savages, and the entire plains country seemed full of their 
war parties. They attacked settlers in the Republican, 
Smoky Hill and Solomon valleys, and raided in Marion, 
Butler, and Greenwood counties. In June of 1867, the 
Cheyennes, Arapahoes and Kiowas seemed to have united 

133 


134 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


to drive back the frontier line of settlement and close com¬ 
munications across the plains. 

198. Relief Comes. —Lieutenant-General Sherman 
called on Governor Crawford for a battalion of volunteer 
cavalry, and in obedience to the Governor’s proclamation, 
the Eighteenth Kansas Battalion of 358 men, commanded 
by Colonel H. L. Moore, took the field. Colonel Moore 
met and whipped the Indians, and in connection with a 
force under Major Elliott, of the Seventh United States 
Cavalry, drove them toward the headwaters of the Republi¬ 
can. While the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, Sioux and 
Comanches were operating in the northwest, bands of 
Osages, Wichitas and others w r ere raiding in the southern 
and western portions of the State, necessitating the station¬ 
ing of troops at Fort Larned and other points. 

199. Treaty of 1867. —On the 28th of October, 1867, 
Generals Sherman, Harney and Terry made a treaty with 
the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, at Medicine Lodge creek, 
which provided that these Indians should remove to a reser¬ 
vation in the Indian Territory, and also provided that the 
Indians should have the privilege of hunting in Kansas, 
the Government furnishing them with arms. 

200. Treaty Broken. —As soon as they were ready in 
the spring, the Indians broke the treaty, a body of 500 
Cheyennes penetrating the State nearly to Council Grove, 
Morris county, murdering and robbing as they went. At 
the very time, in August, when the Indians w r ere drawing 
arms at Fort Larned, a party of Cheyennes was murdering 
men, women and children in Ottawa, Mitchell and Republic 
counties. 


THE INDIAN WARS. 


135 


201. Governor Crawford to the Rescue.— On hear¬ 
ing of the raid, Governor Crawford went by special 
train to Salina, placed himself at the head of a company of 
volunteers, and followed the trail of the Indians. It was 
found that forty persons had been killed, numberless out¬ 
rages committed, and for sixty miles the settlements 
destroyed and the country laid waste. On his return to 
Topeka he sent a dispatch to the President: “The savage 
devils have become intolerable, and must and shall be 
driven out of the State,” and offered to furnish all the 
volunteers necessary to “insure a permanent and lasting 
peace .” In reply, General Sheridan, at Fort Harker, gave 
assurances that the line of settlement should be protected 
and garrisoned with infantry, while a regular cavalry force 
should scout the exposed country. Governor Crawford, 
however, called for a force of five companies of cavalry 
from the militia of the State, each man to furnish arms 
and accoutrements, and be furnished with rations by Gen¬ 
eral Sheridan. The companies were stationed at exposed 
points from the Nebraska line to Wichita, relieving a regu¬ 
lar force to operate against the Indians. General Sully 
went south of the Arkansas with nine companies of cavalry, 
and taught the Cheyennes and Arapahoes some useful 
lessons. 

202. Governor Crawford and the Nineteenth. —Con¬ 
vinced that the Kiowas and Comanches were determined to 
keep up the fight, General Sherman called on Governor 
Crawford for a full regiment of volunteer cavalry. Gover¬ 
nor Crawford issued his proclamation on the 10th of Octo¬ 
ber, 1868, and on the 20th of October, ten days later, the 
regiment of 1,200 men was mustered into service at Topeka. 


136 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The regiment was called the Nineteenth Kansas Volunteer 
Cavalry. Governor Crawford, who had seen service in the 
Civil War as a Captain in the Second Kansas Infantry; 
Major in the Second Kansas Cavalry, and Colonel of the 
Second Kansas Colored Infantry, resigned the Governor¬ 
ship of the State on November 4, 1868, and assumed the 
command of the Nineteenth, the Lieutenant-Colonel being 
Horace L. Moore, who had commanded the Eighteenth 
Kansas in a previous campaign against the Indians, and the 
Major, William C. Jones, formerly of the Tenth Kansas 
Volunteer Infantry. The regiment left Topeka on the 5th 
of November, and on the 28th joined General Sheridan on 
the North Canadian, but at one o’clock on the morning of 
the 27th of November, General Custer had charged into 
Black Kettle’s village on the Washita, killed 103 warriors, 
and captured fifty-one lodges and many horses and mules. 
The Indians fell back, and, on the 24th of December, surren¬ 
dered. The Nineteenth moved to Fort Hays in March, 
having kept the open field all through the severe winter, 
and in April was mustered out. This was the last call on 
Kansas for so large a force as a regiment to repel or pursue 
Indians. 

203. Colonel Forsythe’s Experience.— One of the 

thrilling passages of this Indian War of 1868, was Colonel 
Forsythe’s fight with the Indians, beginning on the 17th of 
September. Barricading himself with his dead horses on 
an island in the north fork of the Republican, Colonel 
Forsythe held at bay, for eight days, a large force of Indians; 
his men living on the flesh of the horses. Colonel Forsythe 
was severely wounded; Lieutenant Beecher and Surgeon 
John Mooers were among the killed. A scout finally made 


THE INDIAN WARS. 


137 


his way through the Indian lines to Fort Wallace, and 
brought relief, on the approach of which the Indians with¬ 
drew. It was one of the most desperate fights of the war, 
and its scene was not far distant from the Kansas line. 

204. Indian Troubles of 1869-70.— The still implac¬ 
able red man harried the borders of the 
State in the spring of 1869 and 1870, 
coming in at the northwest, and a 
battalion of militia was sent to the 
Republican, Saline, and Solomon valleys, 
and United States troops were employed 
in the same region. 

205. Atrocities of the Cheyennes 
in 1874. —In May, 1874, the Cheyennes 
committed murders in Ford, Barber, 
and Comanche counties, and threw the country into great 
alarm, and hundreds of settlers left their claims. Stockades 
were built, companies organized and armed. There was a 
skirmish between the Indians and the militia, in which four 
Indians were killed, but the Indians had still the best of 
the bloody account, since between June and the end of the 
year 1874, twenty-seven persons were murdered by Indians 
within the State. 

206. Cheyennes Start for Their Old Home. —In the 

fall of 1878, a band of northern Cheyennes who had been 
removed to the Indian Territory, resolved to return to their 
former home. Taking their women, and children, they 
started northward through Kansas. When the news of 
their departure reached Fort Dodge, a detachment left the 
Fort, and attacked them at the canon of the Famished 
Woman’s Fork. Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Lewis, 







138 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


commanding the troops, was killed, and the Indians pro¬ 
ceeded on their way. As the Indians crossed several main 
lines of railway and many telegraph lines, information of their 
progress was constantly forwarded. The State Government 
sent arms to the settlers in the threatened country, but 
nothing in the way of assistance could be secured from 
General Pope at*Fort Leavenworth. On the 30th of Sep¬ 
tember, the Indians appeared on the Sappa, in Decatur 
county, and committed fearful atrocities, but made their 
escape almost unmolested to the North. They were finally 
overpowered, and a number of those identified as having 
committed outrages, were sent, on demand of Governor 
Anthony, to Kansas for trial before the civil courts for 
murder and other crimes, but were never prosecuted. This 
raid, in which forty white persons were reported killed, 
was the last in Kansas. 

207. The Indian in Kansas. —The Indian appears in 
the history of Kansas, a grim and un¬ 
happy figure. No gentle or attractive 
traditions remain concerning him. He 
appears squalid and degraded, or brutal 
and terrifying, a beggar or a bandit. 
For years he menaced the border, fight¬ 
ing, with the ferocity of a wild beast, 
the advance of civilization. He was 
swept on and away from it, leaving 
behind no eulogist to praise a brave foe, 

nor mourner for a generous enemy. 

208. Election of State Officers. —On the resignation 
of Governor Crawford, the official duties of Governor were 
assumed by Lieutenant-Governor Green. In November, 



Governor James M. Harvey. 






THE INDIAN WARS. 


139 


1868, the following State officers were elected: Governor, 
Janies M. Harvey; Lieutenant-Governor, C. V. Eskridge; 
Secretary of State, Thomas Moonlight; Auditor, Alois 
Thoman; Treasurer, George Graham; Attorney-General, 
Addison Danford; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
Peter McVicar; Daniel M. Valentine, Associate Justice. 
Sidney Clark was re-elected Member of Congress. Kansas 
cast her electoral vote for Grant and Colfax. 

209. State Printer Elected.— The Legislature of 1869 
elected S. S. Prouty to the newly created office of State 
Printer. 


SUMMARY. 

1. The Indian raids of the 60’s were many and atrocious. The 

most remarkable occurred in the Republican, Smoky Hill, 
and Solomon valleys. 

2. Governor Crawford not only sent large forces to the field, but 

he organized the Nineteenth Regiment, resigned his position, 
and went himself to lead the regiment. 

3. The Cheyennes, in 1874 and 1878, devastated three counties, 

and on their route to the North laid waste the country, and 
killed many people. 

4. James M. Harvey was elected Governor. 

5. Kansas cast electoral vote for Grant and Colfax. 

6. S. S. Prouty elected State Printer. 


CHAPTER XXII. 


IMMIGRATION. 

210. Dawning’ of the Era of Prosperity.— With the 

year 1870 the State of Kansas may be said to have passed 
through a sea of troubles, and emerged upon the shore of 
peace and prosperity. 

In 1870 Governor Harvey was re-elected, with P. P. Elder 
as Lieutenant-Governor; William H. Smallwood, Secretary 
of State; A. Thoman, Auditor; J. E. Hayes, Treasurer; 
A. L. Williams, Attorney-General; H. D. McCarty, Super¬ 
intendent of Public Instruction; David J. Brewer, Asso¬ 
ciate Justice. D. P. Lowe was elected member of Congress. 

211. Census of 1870. The United States census, 
taken in June of that year, showed a population of 362,307. 
The increase in population of Kansas from 1860 to 1870 
was 235.99 per cent. The average increase for all of the 
States and Territories was 21.52 per cent. 

212. Founding of State Institutions. —The end of the 
first decade of the State’s history saw it provided with the 
most important State institutions. The Legislature of 1863 
located the first State Insane Asylum at Osawatomie; pro¬ 
vided for the building of a penitentiary at Lansing; 
established a State University at Lawrence, and accepted 
the Act of Congress giving lands for an Agricultural Col¬ 
lege; accepted the cession of its lands from Bluemont 
College, at Manhattan, and the State Agricultural College 

140 


IMMIGRATION. 


141 


itself was organized July 27, 1863. The amount of land 
selected for the State University in 1861 was 46,080 acres. 
The Legislatures of 1863 and 1869 gave the State Normal 
School 38,400 acres; the grant to the Agricultural College 
amounted to 82,315 acres. The Legislature of 1864 located 
the State Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Olathe, and the Blind 
Asylum at Wyandotte. The year saw the State charitable 
and educational institutions thoroughly and efficiently 
organized, and ready for the great advances to be made. 



State Normal School Building. 


213. State House. —The State Government, which had 
occupied a brick building on Kansas avenue, erected by 
private parties in 1863, and known as the “State Row,” 
abandoned these primitive quarters in the later days of 1869 
for the newly completed east wing of the present Capitol, 
upon which structure work had fairly begun in the spring 
of 1867. The first Legislature to meet in the State’s own 
house was that of 1870, James M. Harvey being the chief 
magistrate of the Commonwealth. 























IMMIGKATION. 


143 


214. State Institutions.— The State University, which 
dedicated its first building in 1866, in 1873 opened its 
main building, considered, at the time, one of the finest 
structures devoted to educational uses in 
the United States. 

The State Normal School completed a 
new building in 1872. The State Agri¬ 
cultural College removed to a point 
nearer Manhattan in 1873. The State 
did not, in its earliest years, neglect the 
criminal and deficient population, since, 
between its organization and the year 
1870, it expended over $400,000 upon 
the penitentiary. The Insane Asylum, 
added to the State institutions in 1875. 

215. Election and Appointment. —Alexander Cald¬ 
well was chosen United States Senator by the Legislature 
of 1871. Mr. Caldwell resigned March 24, 1873, and 
Governor Osborn appointed Robert Crozier to fill the 
vacancy. The Legislature also re-elected S. S. Prouty State 
Printer. 

216. Election of 1872. —At the election of 1872, 
Thomas A. Osborn was chosen Governor; E. S. Stover, 
Lieutenant-Governor; W. H. Smallwood, Secretary of 
State; D. W. Wilder, Auditor; J. E. Hayes, Treasurer; 
A. L. Williams, Attorney-General; H. D. McCarty, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction; Samuel A. King- 
man, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 

217. Increased Representation.— Up to the year 
1872, the State of Kansas had but one Representative in 
Congress, the office being filled successively by Martin F. 



Chancellor F. H, Snow, Uni¬ 
versity of Kansas. 


at Topeka, was 




State University Buildings. 





































IMMIGRATION. 


145 


Conway, A. Carter Wilder, Sidney Clarke, and D. P. 
Lowe. Under the census of 1870, the State became enti¬ 
tled to three Representatives in Congress, and in November, 
1872, D. P. Lowe, of Fort Scott, William A. Phillips, of 
Salina, and Stephen A. Cobb, of Wyandotte, were elected 
from the State at large. 

218. Railways in Kansas.— On the 1st of September, 
1870, the Kansas Pacific, originally called the Union Pacific 
Railway, Eastern Division, and begun at the Kansas State 
line in Wyandotte in 1863, reached Denver, being the first 
railroad to cross Kansas from east to west. The first loco¬ 
motive for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Com¬ 
pany, the “C. K. Holliday, 77 reached Topeka in March, 1869. 

219. Kansas Invitation. —With the construction of 
these railroads, with their enormous land grants to be dis¬ 
posed of, ensued several years of such ‘ ‘ bold advertise¬ 
ment 77 as Kansas had never before received. The agents 
of the land departments of the great railroad companies 
visited Great Britain and the Continent; offices for the 
dissemination of information were opened in every impor¬ 
tant city in the United States and Europe. The buffalo 
head, the especial symbol of the Kansas Pacific, became 
visible in the most distant capitals; the advantages of the 
“Santa Fe 77 and its lands were set forth in all modern 
languages. All distinguished representatives of foreign 
nations were invited to join excursions through Kansas, 
and among these came the Grand Duke Alexis, of Russia, 
and his suite, and were welcomed by Governor Harvey and 
the Legislature at Topeka. The members of the press of 
the United States and of the world were cordially invited, 
and Kansas travelers, in remote regions of Europe, often 


146 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


found local communities greatly excited and interested over 
the advent of a Kansas newspaper, describing the lands of 
the Great West ready and waiting for the settler. 

220. Colonization. —A favorite method of disposing 
of the lands was in large tracts to “colonies.” In 1871 
the Kansas Pacific sold to a Swedish colony, in Saline 
county, 22,000 acres; to a Scotch colony, in Dickinson 
county, 47,000 acres; to an English colony, in Clay county, 
32,000 acres, and to a Welsh colony, in Riley county, 
19,000 acres. In 1873, George Grant, of England, pur¬ 
chased of the Kansas Pacific Company 50,000 acres in the 
eastern portion of Ellis county, with the design of coloniz¬ 
ing English people of means. 

221. - The Mennonites.— With the addition of the 
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company to the 
land-selling corporations, came vigorous efforts to induce 
emigration from Europe. Mr. C. B. Schmidt, on behalf of 
the company, traversed the Russian empire, carefully watched 
by the emissaries of the Government, and opened up com¬ 
munication with the Mennonite communities in Southern 
Russia, whose thoughts had been turned toward emigration 
to America by the proposed revocation, by the Czar’s Gov¬ 
ernment, of the privileges under which their fathers had 
settled in Russia. 

In Angnst, 1873, five leaders of these people (kindred in 
race and religion to the founders of Germantown and other 
early German settlements in Pennsylvania) visited the 
counties of Harvey, Sedgwick, Reno, Marion and McPher¬ 
son, to select lands for a colony from Russia. The Legis¬ 
lature of 1874, mindful of the peaceful principles of the 
colonists, passed an act exempting Mennonites and Friends 


IMMIGRATION. 


147 


from military duty. In September, 1874, 1,600 Mennonites 
arrived at Topeka from Russia. In October the Atchison, 
Topeka & Santa Fe Company sold them 100,000 acres of land 
in Harvey, Marion and Reno. The following summer they 
were living in their villages of Gnadenau and Hoffnungsthal, 
in Marion county, and located on their farms about. 

222. Their Settlement. —In July, 1877, it was esti¬ 
mated that 6,000 Mennonites had settled in the Arkansas 
valley. Though for a time popularly called “Russians/’ 
they were Germans in language and lineage. They 
brought with them from Russia the apricot and mulberry, 
and also brought what they had retained in Russia, the 
German thrift, industry, and belief in popular and univer¬ 
sal education. They abandoned, after a brief trial, the 
village and “common field’’ idea under which they lived in 
Russia, and absorbed the American idea of individual 
ownership and control. They have taken part in all the 
business life of the communities amid which they came to 
dwell, they have become prominent in it, and have dis¬ 
tinguished themselves by their attachment to the cause of 
education, fostering higher schools of their own, and 
patronizing the State University and other educational 
institutions of the first rank. The Mennonite immigration 
continued for several years; the immigrants coming directly 
from Russia and Germany to the place where they would be. 

223. Russian Immigration. —In the years 1875-’76-’77 
a large “Russian” immigration settled, under the auspices of 
the Kansas Pacific, in Ellis county. These people, divided 
into five settlements named after cities and towns in Russia; 
adhered to some extent to the village system, almost uni¬ 
versal among the agricultural population of Russia, and to 


148 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


the Catholic faith, to which they have testified their devo¬ 
tion by building commodious and substantial churches. 
They have found Kansas a land of promise and fulfilment. 

224. John J. Ingalls as Senator. —The Legislature of 
1873 chose John James Ingalls as United States Senator 
as the successor of Samuel C. Pomeroy, first elected to the 
Senate in 1861. George W. Martin was elected State 
Printer, and re-elected by the Legislature of 1875. 

225. State Election. —In 1874, Thomas A. Osborn 
was re-elected Governor; with M. J. Salter, Lieutenant- 
Governor; T. H. Cavanaugh, Secretary of State; D. W. 
Wilder, Auditor; Samuel Lappin, Treasurer; A. M. F. 
Randolph, Attorney-General; John Fraser, Superintendent 
of Public Instruction; D. M. Valentine, Associate Justice; 
William A. Phillips, J. R. Goodin and W. R. Brown were 
elected members of Congress. 

226. Election of Senator. —James M. Harvey, who 
had served two terms as Governor of the State, was elected 
by the Legislature of 1874, United States Senator, to fill 
the remainder of the term for which Alexander Caldwell 
was elected, a portion of the term having been filled by 
Hon. Robert Crozier, by appointment of the Governor. 

In 1874 Kansas, taking an account of stock in resources 
educational, noted that the school districts had grown in 
number, since 1861, from 214 to 4,181; the school popula¬ 
tion from 4,901 to 199,019. The number of teachers 
employed had increased from 319 to 5,043. The value of 
schoolhouses, which in 1862 was estimated at $10,432, was, 
in 1874, set down as $3,989,085. This increase was made 
from year to year, including the years of the Civil War, 
no year being marked by a falling off or a cessation of 


IMMIGRATION. 


149 


growth, showing that the people of Kansas were not to be 
diverted by any vicissitude from the upbuilding of the 
common and public school, the hope and security of free 
government. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Dawning of better times. 

2. The census of 1870 gives a population of 362,307 in Kansas. 

3. The State institutions built during the first decade of Kansas 

as a State, were the Insane Afeylum, the Penitentiary, the 
State University, the State Agricultural College, the State 
Normal School, the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and the Blind 
Asylum. 

4. The State House was occupied for the first time by the Legis¬ 

lature in 1870, James M. Harvey, Governor. 

5. Alexander Caldwell was chosen United States Senator in 1871. 

6. Thomas A. Osborn was elected Governor in 1872. 

7. Kansas became entitled to three Representatives in Congress 

under the census of 1870. 

8. The Union Pacific was the first road to cross Kansas. 

9. Kansas invited all the world into her borders. 

10. John J. Ingalls was elected United States Senator in 1873. 

11. Thomas A. Osborn was re-elected Governor in 1874. 

12. James M. Harvey was elected United States Senator in 1874. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


THE CENTENNIAL YEAR. 

227. Kansas at the Centennial. —A feature of the 
great “boom decade, 7 ’ 1870-1880, was the participation of 
Kansas in the Centennial Exposition of 1876 at Philadel¬ 
phia. The Legislatures of 1875 and 1876 appropriated 
$30,000 for the exhibition, and a further sum of $8,625 to 
be devoted to a report of the State Board of Agriculture, 
which should also contain an account of the Exposition. 
The women of Kansas manifested much interest in the part 
Kansas should take in the National celebration. For the 
$10,000 to which the building fund was limited, a frame 
house was erected in an excellent location, and therein, 
dividing the space with the State of Colorado, the State of 
Kansas made a memorable exhibition. The attendance, 
small at the opening of the Exposition, increased with its 
progress, and at the close became a rush. Among the 
visitors came Dom Pedro II, of Brazil, and his Empress, 
and with them a countless crowd of American sovereigns. 

Every feature of the Kansas exhibition was a success, 
and a most admired map, showing by a star the location of 
eveiy Kansas school house, is still preserved in the Capitol 
at Topeka. 

228. Prizes Won by Exhibitors.— John A. Martin and 
George A. Crawford were appointed the National Centennial 
Commissioners for Kansas. The display owed its effect to 

150 


THE CENTENNIAL YEAR. 


151 


the taste of the arrangement, largely the work of Henry 
Worrall, o.f Topeka. Kansas received a certificate for the 
best collective exhibit; a first premium on fruit; a medal 
for a bound record book, exhibited by the State Printer, 
George W. Martin, and a prize for the best farm wagon, 
appropriate to the State where, by freighter’s wagon and 
farmer’s wagon, the “Star of Empire” has taken its west¬ 
ward way. 

229. Centennial Year in Kansas. —The Centennial 
year was marked in Kansas by the mildness of the season 
with which it opened, with the ground unfrozen and blue¬ 
birds singing in January and February. 

The people throughout the State evinced a revived interest 
in the history of their country and their State. The Fourth 
of July, 1876, was celebrated with enthusiasm, and seventy - 
five newspapers published local histories. 

230. Calamity of 1874 .—There is no rose without its 
thorn, and the ten wonderful years for Kansas, 1870 to 1880, 
were broken by one year of calamity, 1874. In that year 
the drought came after the wheat harvest, and the grass¬ 
hoppers became a burden. As a spectacle the approach of 
the winged destroyers was sufficiently terrifying, and the 
destruction of vegetation was complete. A special session 
of the State Legislature was called, but concluded that relief 
from the State treasury was impracticable, and that the 
locusts must belnet by issues of county bonds. 

231. Relief. —In this juncture a State Relief Committee 
was organized, composed of well-known and responsible 
citizens of the State, who issued an address to the “citizens 
of Kansas and the people of the Eastern States.” This 
committee received and disbursed money and goods to the 


152 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


amount of $235,000. This was the last “grasshopper inva¬ 
sion, ” and probably the last “aid campaign’’ in or from 
Kansas. Owing to the conduct of “unauthorized, irrespon¬ 
sible and mercenary parties,” against whom the State Com¬ 
mittee raised loud but ineffectual warning, the word “aid” 
became quite as unpopular in Kansas as the word “locust. ” 

232. The Hoppers Depart. In the early spring of 
1875, the young locusts hatched out in large numbers in 
Kansas and created much alarm. They evinced, however, 
a delicacy of constitution unknown to their hardy, northern 
progenitors, and on taking wings they took flight to the 
northward, in time to allow late planting, and the season 
which followed was one of the most fruitful in the history 
of the State. 

233. Election of 1876. —In 1876 George T. Anthony 
was elected Governor; M. J. Salter, Lieu¬ 
tenant-Governor; ThomasH. Cavanaugh, 
Secretary of State; P. I. Bonebrake, 
Auditor; John Francis, Treasurer; Wil¬ 
lard Davis, Attorney-General; A. B. 
Lemmon, Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction; David J. Brew'er, Associate 
Justice. William A. Phillips, Dudley C. 
Haskell and Thomas Ryan were elected 
to Congress. 

234. The Exodus. —In the spring of 1874, it was noted 
that parties of colored people were emigrating to the 
State from the South, the larger number from Tennessee. 
These immigrants located in southeastern Kansas, and 
engaged in growing cotton. A settlement was also formed 
in Morris county. 



Gov. George T. Anthony. 




THE CENTENNIAL YEAR. 


153 


In the spring of 1879 occurred the rush from the South, 
to which was given the name of the “Exodus,/ ’ and the 
“Exoduster” for a time became a prominent figure in 
Kansas. Great numbers of black people, men, women, and 
children, arrived by rail at Parsons, from Texas, and on 
steamboats at Wyandotte and Atchison. The later comers 
represented the ex-slave population of Tennessee, Missis¬ 
sippi, and Louisiana. They were set ashore with their 
scanty household goods, strangers, houseless, foodless, but 
seemingly cheerful and uncaring. Their story soon became 
the talk of the country, and a Congressional committee was 
formed to investigate the “Exodus,” and many witnesses 
were summoned from Kansas. 

In the meantime, the “Exodusters” cared for themselves, 
and were cared for. Meetings were held in Lawrence, 
Wyandotte, Leavenworth, and Topeka, to take measures 
for their immediate relief. A Freedman’s State Central 
Association was formed, headed by Governor St. John. 
Money and goods were received, $2,000 coming from Chicago, 
and $3,000 from England. In Atchison the colored people 
came generously, with the whites, to the rescue. 

235. Settlement of the Negroes. —In the late fall of 
1877, ‘ ‘Exodusters’ ’ gathered from Topeka and other points, 
and founded the town of Nicodemus, in Graham county. 
With but three horses in the entire settlement, the people 
in the spring put in wheat and other crops, with hoes and 
mattocks, and in the harvest pulled the grain with their 
hands. The men afterwards walked to eastern Kansas and 
to Colorado in search of work, and the women “held down 
the claims. ’ ’ The ‘ ‘ Exodusters ’ ’ formed little suburbs in the 
cities where they collected, and ‘ ‘ Tennesseetown, ’ ’ in Topeka, 


154 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


is a relic of the “Exodus. ” The entire body was absorbed in 
the laboring population of the State. These immigrants 
conducted probably the first successful attempt of the freed 
people to occupy, under the Homestead Law, the public lands 
of the United States. They came to Kansas not by invita¬ 
tion or offered inducement, but moved by an impulse to 
seek security in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. 

236. Amendment to the Constitution. —In 1876 the 
Constitution of the State was amended so as to provide for 
biennial sessions of the Legislature, and the session of 1877 
was the first held under the new amendment. On the 30th 
of January, 1877, the Legislature, on the sixteenth ballot, 
elected Preston B. Plumb United States Senator. George 
W. Martin was elected State Printer for 
the third term. 

237. State Election, 1878.— The 

November election of 1878 resulted in the 
choice of JohnP. St. John as Governor; 
L. U. Humphrey, Lieutenant-Governor; 
James Smith, Secretary of State; P. 

I. BOnebrake, Auditor; John Francis, 
Treasurer; Willard Davis, Attorney- 
General; A. B. Lemmon, Superintendent 
of Public Instruction; Albert H. Horton, Chief Justice. 
John A. Anderson, Dudley C. Haskell, and Thomas Ryan 
were elected to Congress. 

General John Fraser died at Pittsburgh, Pa., June 4, 
1878. General Fraser was born in Scotland. He came a 
young man to the United States, served with distinction in 
the war for the Union, and rose to the command of a- 
brigade. After filling various educational positions of 




THE CENTENNIAL YEAR. 


155 


prominence in the State of Pennsylvania, he became 
Chancellor of the University of Kansas, serving from 
1868 to 1874. It was during the chancellorship of General 
Fraser that the main building of the University was built, 
and his name is preserved in Fraser Hall. In 1874 he was 
elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and 
served one term. He was chosen a professor in the 
Western University at Pittsburgh, in July, 1877, and there 
died. His was the record of a soldier, gentleman and 
scholar. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Kansas participated in the Centennial Exposition at Philadel¬ 

phia. 

2. Kansas won several prizes. 

3. The prosperity of the years from 1870-1880 was broken by the 

grasshopper visitation in 1874. 

4. The Eastern and Western States loyally gave assistance. 

5. George T. Anthony was elected Governor in 1876. 

6. The Negro Exodus of 1874 resulted in the settlement of many 

colored people in Kansas. 

7. Biennial Sessions of the Legislature provided for by an amend¬ 

ment to the Constitution. 

8. John P. St. John was elected Governor in' 1878. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


EVENTS OF THE DECADE. 

238. Cattle Trade.— The great Texas cattle trade 
became a feature in Kansas with the building of the rail¬ 
roads. The “drive’ 7 being directed as conveniences for 
shipping were afforded. In 1866 Mr. Joseph G. McCoy 
came to Abilene and began his labors to attract the “drive” 
from Texas to Kansas. He was successful, and from 1867 
to 1872 Abilene was a cow-boy town; and the “boy” with 
his jingling spurs, wide hat and other equipment was much 
in evidence. Ready to meet and thrive upon the sunburned 
traveler from Texas, and to share the burden of his money 
and his sins, came a motley crowd of both sexes, and great 
disorder prevailed, not only by night but by day. This, in 
time, led to the appointment of some person as city marshal, 
or otherwise styled regulator of the peace, armed with sev¬ 
eral revolvers and an unrivaled facility in their use. Thus 
came, in 1870, to Abilene, James G. Hickox, “Wild Bill,” 
and the head and progenitor of the entire family of wild 
and other Bills, who for years held a sure place in the dime 
novel literature of the country. The herds of long-horned 
cattle held in prairies about, the herd of wild men who 
haunted the ‘ ‘ cow-towns, ’ ’ the stir of a really great commerce, 
the cattle which were bought and sold, and shipped, greatly 
attracted the use of the writer’s pen. In 1871 the great 
cattle trade tarried for a season at Newton. In 1872 the 


156 


EVENTS OF THE DECADE. 


157 


trade began to be a great feature at the new city of Wichita, 
and in 1875 at Dodge City. At all these points the sale and 
shipment of cattle rarely fell under 200,000 a year. 

- 239. John J. Ingalls’ Re-election.— The Legislature 
of 1879, on the 31st of January, re-elected John J. Ingalls 
United States Senator. The Legislature also elected George 
W. Martin State Printer for the fourth term. 

240. Prohibition Amendment.— The last public act of 
Kansas in the decade of 1870-1880 which attracted the 
attention of the country was the passage, by the Legislature 
of 1879, of a joint resolution to submit to a vote of the 
people an amendment to the State Constitution forever pro¬ 
hibiting in Kansas the ‘ ‘manufacture and sale of intoxicating 
liquors, 77 except for medical and scientific purposes. The 
amendment was adopted at the general election in Novem¬ 
ber, 1880, the vote standing 92,302 votes for the amend¬ 
ment to 84,304 against it. 

The Legislature of 1881 passed the Act to enforce the 
provisions of the amendment, called the Prohibitory Law, 
the final vote in both Houses standing 132 ayes to 21 noes. 
After nearly twenty years the law has not been repealed, nor 
has the Constitutional Amendment, upon which it is based, 
been re-submitted to the people for their affirmation or 
rejection. 

241. Railroad System. —In the year 1870, the railroad 
system of Kansas had but fairly commenced. In 1880 the 
State had been crossed and recrossed, and Kansas roads 
entered the Indian Territory and Colorado. In 1870 alone 
the Kansas Pacific sold 700,000 acres of land for $2,000,000; 
by the close of 1879, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe had 
disposed of 1,000,000 of its 3,000,000 acres. 


158 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


242. Organization of Counties.— In 1872 was organized 
Rice county, in which the geographical center of the State 
was afterwards defined at the corner of sections 5 f 6, 7 and 
8, township 18 south, range 9 west; and two years later 
were organized the counties of Ford, Barber, Harper, Ness 
and Comanche, far to the westward. 

243. Production of Fruit and Wheat.— In those 
days, Kansas began to be known in the East as a fruit 
State, and received honorable mention from New Hamp¬ 
shire, New York and Pennsylvania, and at Richmond, Va., 
the highest award of the American Pomological Society. 
As the harvest approached in 1875, it was estimated that 
1,000 reapers would be needed in the Arkansas valley. In 
1878 Kansas stood at the head of the wheat States, with a 
crop of 33,315,538 bushels. 

244. Kansas Vote in 1872. —In 1872 it was discov¬ 
ered that Kansas cast a larger vote than any New England 
State, save Massachusetts. 

245. Kansas-Nebraska Act Anniversary. —In 1879 
was held at Bismarck Grove, Lawrence, the quarter centen¬ 
nial of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The day 
selected, the 15th of September, 1879, as it turned out, was 
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the issue of the first news¬ 
paper in Kansas. The meeting was marked by the number 
present, of men and women, who took part in the stirring 
scenes of 1854 to 1859. Among the honored guests and 
speakers from abroad was Rev. Edward Everett Hale, of 
Boston, whose story of “A Man Without a Country,” had 
taught a generation of young Kansans patriotism, and who 
had himself labored with voice and pen for Kansas in the old 
Territorial days, and whose book, “ Kansas and Nebraska; 


EVENTS OF THE DECADE. 


159 


the History, Geographical and Physical Characteristics and 
Political Position of those Territories,” published in 1854, 
has been pronounced the ablest Kansas book of its time. 

246. The First Ten Years. —It was in 1874 that 
Kansas State bonds first sold above par. Kansas, in the 
first ten years of peace (not counting the Indian invasions) 
allowed her, laid firm the foundations of her future great¬ 
ness; welcomed to her borders a great company from the 
East, and North, and South, from our own country, and from 
beyond the seas; turning back no human being for poverty, 
or race, religion or previous condition of servitude. 

247. Kansas at National Celebration of 1876.— 
Kansas appeared at the great national celebration of 1876, 
where some of the oldest States of the Union “made no 
sign,” and made a showing of her products so fine and 
fair, arrayed with such brightness of fancy and skill of 
hand, as to attract universal attention. “ Kansas,” said a 
leading American journal in 1870, “is the best advertised 
and most favorably known of the far western States. 
Her prestige is due to three causes: First, her political 
troubles and warfare for freedom, which elicited universal 
sympathy; second, the fertility of her soil, the superior of 
which does not exist in the West; and, third, to the activity 
of her citizens.” 

248. Settlers of Kansas. —Kansas, in these formative 
years, demonstrated the fitness of the American Republic’s 
form of Government, National, State and local, for the 
uses of a free, intelligent and self-governing people. 
Without charter or grant, or voice of herald or direction, 
or proclamation, the home-seeking thousands came into the 
country, selected the places for their rooftrees and their 


160 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


fires; securing their titles thereto from the Government. 
Coming from distant and different regions, meeting for the 
first time as settlers in the Kansas prairies, they yet, as 
native and adopted American citizens, knew their privileges, 
and maintained their rights. They organized the institu¬ 
tions of Government, the school district, the township, the 
county, and affiliated with the State. In rude and primi¬ 
tive temples they reared the altar of the law, and installed 
its ministers. They commanded order, and they estab¬ 
lished justice. Beginning with the wagons in which they 
came as their first habitations, they built their cabins, 
which soon grew into comfortable houses; they became 
town and city builders; they abolished times and periods 
as known in the settlement of older countries. In two or 
three years after the first smoke darkened the prairie hori¬ 
zon the “Old Settlers 7 Reunion 77 was called, and orations 
were delivered from the perennial theme of 11 Ad astra per 
aspera 

249. Growth of Kansas.— In an address delivered at 
the Quarter Centennial Celebration of the admission of 
Kansas, Topeka, January 29, 1886, Governor Martin said: 
“The growth of Kansas has had no parallel. The great 
States of New York and Pennsylvania were nearly 150 
years in attaining a population Kansas has reached in 
thirty years. Kentucky was eighty years, Tennessee, 
seventy-five; Alabama, ninety; Ohio, forty-five, and Massa¬ 
chusetts, New Jersey, Georgia and North and South Caro¬ 
lina each over 100 years, in reaching the present popula¬ 
tion of Kansas. Even the marvelous growth of the great 
States of the West has been surpassed by that of Kansas. 
Illinois was organized as a Territory in 1810, and thirty 


EVENTS OF THE DECADE. 


161 


years later liad only 691,392 inhabitants, or not much more 
than one-half the present pepulation of this State. Indiana 
was organized in 1800, and sixty years later had a popula¬ 
tion of only 1,350,428. Iowa was organized as a Territory 
in 1838, and had, at that date, a population of nearly 
40,000. In 1870 it had only 1,194,020 inhabitants. Mis¬ 
souri was organized in 1812, with a population of over 
40,000, and fifty years later had only 1,182,012. Michigan 
and Wisconsin, after fifty years of growth, did not have as 
many people as Kansas has to-day; and Texas, admitted 
into the Union in 1845, with a population of 150,000, had, 
thirty-five years later, onty 815,579 inhabitants. 77 

250. Census of 1880. —The United States census of 
June, 1880, gave Kansas a population of 996,616. The 
State census of March, 1885, reported the increased figures 
1,268,562. 

251. Election of 1880. —The State officers elected in 
1880 were John P. St. John, Governor; D. W. Finney, 
Lieutenant-Governor; James Smith, Secretary of State; 
P. I. Bonebrake, Auditor; W. A. Johnston, Attorney- 
General; H. C. Speer, Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion; D. M. Valentine, Associate Justice; John A. Ander¬ 
son, Dudley C. Haskell and Thomas Ryan were re-elected 
to Congress. 

252. Death of Alfred Gray. —In the death of Alfred 
Gray, who passed away on the 23d of January, 1880, 
Kansas lost a most valuable citizen, who greatly added to 
her honest fame. Born at Evans, Erie county, N. Y., 
December 5, 1830, he worked as a boy on a farm, and later 
embarked as a sailor on Lake Erie. After rising to the 
rank of first mate he came ashore, turned his mind to study 


162 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


and books, and finally became a practicing lawyer in Buffalo, 
N. Y. He abandoned excellent professional prospects to 
become, in 1855, a farmer in Wyandotte county, Kansas 
Territory. He took part in politics and war, and was chief 
clerk of the last Territorial Legislature, and rose to the 
rank of Division Quarter-Master in the Union army. It 
was in 1866 that Alfred Gray began his career of usefulness 
to the State. In that year he was elected a director of the 
State Agricultural Society. From this society grew the 
State Board of Agriculture, with Mr. Gray as its secre¬ 
tary, and the system of biennial reports which he pre¬ 
pared for years, and which have always been regarded as 
authority on Kansas agriculture, industries and resources, 
throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Mr. 
Gray’s services to Kansas in connection with the Centennial 
Exhibition of 1876 were beyond price. He died the victim 
of overwork. His memory is preserved by a public monu¬ 
ment, and in the name of Gray county. 

Through the years 1880 to 1885, the coming settler was 
the main feature of the Kansas landscape. In 1881 it was 
reported that 10,762,353 acres of land had already been 
homesteaded in Kansas. There was in these years a reac¬ 
tion against the indiscriminate and wholesale granting of 
public lands to corporations; a disposition on the part of 
the State to recover its own, and to overhaul the titles to 
lands claimed and occupied by the great companies. 

253. Osage Lands. —In March, 1880, the passage of 
Congressman Ryan’s Indian Trust Land Bill opened the whole 
Kaw reserve to settlers. Bills for the relief of settlers on the 
“Osage Ceded,” and other lands, became more frequent than 
measures for increasing the landed area of corporate owners. 


EVENTS OF THE DECADE. 


163 


It was on May 27, 1869, that the Osage Indians made a 
treaty, selling their lands to the Leavenworth, Lawrence and 
Galveston Railroad Company, to the amount of 8,000,000 
acres. The settlers, many of whom had located on these 
lands prior to this sale, held great meetings at Osage 
Mission, Parsons, and other points, and commenced agita¬ 
tion. On the 19th of January, 1874, the Attorney-General 
of the United States issued an order to the United States 
District Attorney of Kansas to bring suit to test the validity 
of patents issued to railroad companies for any part of the 
Osage ceded lands. The case was argued in the United 
States Circuit Court at Leavenworth, in June, 1874, and in 
August decided for the settlers by Judges Miller and Dillon. 
In April, 1876, the United States Supreme Court decided 
the case for the settlers. After seven years or more of 
waiting and anxiety, the settlers indulged in great rejoicing. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The cattle trade becomes a factor of Kansas commerce. 

2. John J. Ingalls re-elected United States Senator in 1879. 

3. Prohibition amendment adopted in 1880. 

4. The railroad system is greatly extended. 

5. The counties of Rice, Barber,‘Ford, Ness and Comanche were 

organized in 1872. 

6. The American Pomological Society awards the highest medal 

to Kansas fruit. 

7. Edward Everett Hale attends the celebration, at Lawrence, of 

25th anniversary of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. 

8. The first ten years of Kansas history a prophecy of future 

greatness.’ 

9. John P. St. John re-elected Governor in 1880. 

10. The Osage ceded lands opened for settlement in March, 1880. 


CHAPTER XXV. 


AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 

254. Death of Famous Men. —On the 27th of July, 
1881, General James G. Blunt died in Washington City. 
He was the only Kansas officer who attained the rank of 
Major-General in the war for the Union. He was horn in 
Maine, and was in his early life a sailor. Prior to the com¬ 
ing of the great war he was a country doctor in Kansas. 
He was a hold and hardy soldier, and distinguished himself 
at the battle of Prairie Grove, where he reinforced General 
Herron at the critical time, and fought an overwhelming 
force till darkness shut down on a field on which lay 4,000 
dead and wounded men. In the campaign against General 
Sterling Price, in October, 1864, he fought, with a little 
force of cavalry, the Eleventh and Fifteenth Kansas, and 
the First Colorado, an advancing army of 28,000 men, and 
held on for three days till reinforcements came, and the 
border was saved. 

General Robert B. Mitchell died in Washington City on 
the 26th of January, 1882. He commanded the Second 
Kansas at Wilson’s creek, and was wounded there. Within 
a month, Martin F. Conway, First Representative in Con 
gress of the State of Kansas, died, also in Washington. 
General George W. Deitzler, of the First Kansas, at Wilson’s 
creek, died at Tucson, Ariz., in January, 1884. Colonel 
Charles R. Jennison died in Leavenworth, June, 1884. 

164 


AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 


165 


Thus passed away, within a brief time, five Kansans of the 
brave days, and but one at home. 

255. Quarter Centennial. —Kansas, a quarter of a cen¬ 
tury after, was not forgetful, but remindful. The Quarter 
Centennial of the admission was observed at Topeka, Janu¬ 
ary 29, 1886, by an “all day” meeting of three sessions, 
presided over respectively by Governor John A. Martin, 
Charles Robinson, First Governor of Kansas, and Colonel 
D. R. Anthony, President of the State Historical Society. 

256. Reunion at Kansas City. —There was a reunion 
at Kansas City, Kan., July 29, 1882, of the surviving 
members of the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention. At 
this first meeting of the constitution builders since their 
adjournment in 1859, it was discovered that but twenty- 
nine were living, but nineteen still residents of Kansas, 
and but ten were present. The proceedings were of the 
highest interest, and a permanent asso¬ 
ciation was formed. 

257. Election of 1882. —In Novem¬ 
ber, 1882, occurred the election of George 
W. Glick as Governor, D. W. Finney, 
Lieutenant-Governor; James Smith, 

Secretary of State; W. A. Johnston, 

Attorney-General; David J. Brewer, 

Associate Justice; H. C. Speer, Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction; Samuel Governor George W. Glick. 
T. Howe was elected as Treasurer, and E. P. McCabe, 
Auditor. The entire congressional delegation was re¬ 
elected, andE. N. Morrill, B. W. Perkins, Lewis Hanback 
and S. R. Peters were elected members at large. 



166 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The Legislature of 1883 re-elected Preston B. Plumb 
United States Senator, and elected T. Dwight Thacher for 
a second term as State Printer. 

Aids the Suffering. —Kansas having, 
in her earlier and dryer days, freely 
received, has in her more prosperous 
years freely given. A destructive flood 
prevailing in the Ohio valley in the 
spring of 1884, a train of thirty-one 
cars, loaded with corn by Sedgwick 
county farmers, was dispatched from 
Wichita. The cars were decked with 
flags and banners gay, and contained 
12,400 bushels, which brought $8,500 at 
Cincinnati. The Sedgwick county train was followed by 
the Butler county train, thirty cars of 400 bushels each, 
which sold for $8,000. A G. A. R. Post at Fort Scott 
shipped a load of corn to Richmond, Va., in aid of a Con¬ 
federate Home. This was well done, but Kansas did not 
miss a little corn more or less. The corn crop of 1885, 
which was not a remarkable corn year, was estimated to be 
worth more money than the entire gold and silver product 
of Colorado, California and Nevada. 

259. Kansas Day. —It became evident with the growth 
of the State that the feeling of State pride pervaded its 
older and younger population. The observance of the 29th 
of January as “Kansas Day 77 became, in the early 80 7 s, a 
custom in the schools of the State. In 1882 the observ¬ 
ances in the public schools of Wichita and Junction City 
were matters of State remark, and since that time the 
“Kansas Day 77 celebration has become well nigh universal. 


258. Kansas 



T. Dwight Thacher. 









AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 


167 


On “Kansas Day’ 7 elaborate programmes are prepared, 
essays are read on various periods in the history of Kansas; 
Kansas songs are sung, Kansas poems recited, the favorites 
being the “songs of freedom,” with which, in the early and 
doubtful days, Whittier, Lowell, Bryant and others were 
inspired, and the verses, ranging from “grave to gay/ 7 
descriptive of the Kansas earth and sky and life, which 
have been evoked from Kansas writers. On these festive 
occasions the walls are decorated with the national colors; 
the motto of the State in evergreen letters, and everywhere 
the sunflower. 

260. Kansas Sunflower. —Without any statutory pro¬ 
vision or formal adoption as the “State flower,” there 
came about through the “vox populi” the selection of the 
sunflower as the emblem, and the “Sunflower State” as the 
familiar and household name of Kansas. The sunflower is 
a pioneer in Kansas, coming with the 
first breaking of the soil by the passing 
wheel or other disturbing agency. The 
“flower” sprang up on either side of the 
Santa Fe trail for 800 miles. The sun¬ 
flower comes wherever in Kansas man 
comes to sow or reap, and marks the 
time and place, and if the claim is aban¬ 
doned, the sunflower grows within the 
roofless walls of sod. The sunflower is 
the badge worn by Kansans on great occasions at home and 
abroad. 

261. Election of 1884.— In 1884 John A. Martin was 
chosen Governor; A. P. Riddle, Lieutenant-Governor; 
E. B. Allen, Secretary of State; E. P. McCabe, Auditor; 



Governor John A. Martin. 







168 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Samuel T. Howe, Treasurer; S. B. Bradford, Attorney- 
General; J. H. Lawhead, Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion; A. H. Horton, Chief Justice; W. A. Johnston, 
Associate Justice. At this election J. A. Anderson, E. H. 
Funston, Thomas Ryan, E. N. Morrill, B. W. Perkins, 
Lewis Hanback, and Samuel R. Peters were elected to 
Congress. 

262. State Institutions. —Between the years 1880 and 
1890 many additions were made to the number of State 
institutions. In 1881 the State Asylum for Imbeciles was 
established at Lawrence, and in 1886 was removed to 
Winfield. 

The twenty-first session of the Kansas Legislature, which 
assembled in January, 1885, was famous for the number of acts 
and measures adopted. This Legislature re-elected John J. 
Ingalls United States Senator, and re-elected T. Dwight 
Thacher, State Printer. The Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home was 
located at Atchison in 1885 and opened in 1887. The State 
Reform School for Girls, at Beloit, began its work in 1889. 
In the same year the State Soldiers’ Home was established 
near Dodge City, the United States granting the ground 
and buildings at old Fort Dodge for the purpose. The 
State Reformatory was located at Hutchinson, in 188.6, 
though not ready for the reception of inmates until 1895. 
On the 15tli of September, 1884, the Haskell Institute was 
opened by the United States Government at Lawrence, with 
twenty-three students, and has since taken a first rank among 
the schools maintained by the Government for the education 
of the Indians. It received its name in honor of Dudley 
Chase Haskell, who died December 16, 1883, a representa¬ 
tive of Kansas in the Congress of the United States. The 


AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 


169 


western branch of the United States Soldiers’ Home was 
located three miles below Leavenworth, in 1884. It has 
grown in buildings, appointments, and number of inmates 
to be one of the most important military asylums in the 
country. Its management and the measure of its success 
are matters of deep interest to the people of Kansas. 

263. Kansas at New Orleans. —Kansas, at the New 

Orleans Exposition, took first prizes on wheat, corn, flour, 
sorghum, sugar, apples, and cattle; sixty-five first and 
second prizes, leading every State in the Union. 

264. Soldier Census. —The Legislature of 1885 made 
provision for a census of the soldier population of the State. 
It was discovered that not far from 100,000 Kansans had 
been enrolled in the army of the Nation. Soldiers’ reunions 
became the most popular festivals. 

265. National Cemetery. —The National Cemetery at 
Fort Leavenworth was dedicated May 30, 1886, with mili¬ 
tary pomp and splendor. 

266. Financial Speculation. —The decade, 1880 to 1890, 
was a fairly prosperous period for Kansas, but not, perhaps, 
so steady and unbroken in its advance as 1870-1880. There 
was in the first five years a general prosperity which led up 
to a “boom” in the larger towns and cities, and smaller 
towns as well, for which, when it was over, there seemed to be 
no reasonable explanation. Extensive additions, spreading 
over a great area, extending in some instances miles from 
the business centres of the towns aijd cities, were laid out; 
real estate was held and sold at stupendous prices. Bonds 
were profusely issued for all sorts of municipal improve¬ 
ments. Waterworks were voted where the natural supply 


170 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


of water was hardly appreciable, and hydrants arose amid 
the prairie grass at immense distances from human habita¬ 
tions. In cities of the minor class, massive and imposing 
business blocks were erected worthy of the solid and long 
established commercial centres of the country. In the 
course of twelve months, extending into 1886, ninety-four 
new towns were chartered. In ten months of the year 1886 
453 railroad charters were filed in the office of the Secretary 
of State, and by the end of the year 1,520 additional 'miles 
of railroad track had been laid and Kansas led the States. 
Railroad bonds were voted almost every day in towns, cities 
and counties. 

267. Captain Payne and Oklahoma.— In 1880, Cap¬ 
tain David L. Payne appeared as the original ‘‘Oklahoma 
boomer/ ’ Captain Payne w r as an old-time and well-known 
citizen of Kansas. He had settled in Doniphan county in 
1858. He enlisted early in the war, and served three years 
as a private soldier in the Tenth Kansas Volunteers, and 
subsequently was commissioned a captain in the Eighteenth 
Kansas Cavalry to serve against the Indians; he later joined 
the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry and took part in General 
Sheridan’s campaign against the savages in 1868. Captain 
Payne was elected a member of the Kansas Legislature from 
Doniphan county in 1865; was Postmaster at Fort Leaven¬ 
worth in 1867, and was chosen a member of the Kansas 
House from Sedgwick county (where he had established 
“Payne’s Ranch” in 1870), in the session of 1872. In 1879, 
while an employe of the Government in Washington, he 
made the discovery, as he believed, that the lands in the 
western part of the Indian Territory which had been ceded 
by the Creeks to the Government for occupation by other 


AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 


171 


civilized tribes, and by the freedmen, formerly slaves in the 
Territory, but had not been so occupied, belonged to the 
public lands of the United States, and subject to entry 
under the public land laws. Beginning in 1880, parties of 
“boomers ,’’ as they came to be called, marched into the 
coveted Territory on an average about twice a year under 
the command of Captain Payne. They were as often 
arrested and turned out by the United States troops, and 
held to appear in the United States courts, but nothing 
suppressed the boomers, and the name of their chief and his 
portrait, as a far-famed western scout, adorned all the walls. 
On the 28th of November, 1884, David L. Payne dropped 
dead of heart disease at Wellington, Kan. But his work 
prospered in the hands of Captain Couch and other lieuten¬ 
ants, the agitation was transferred to Congress, and the 
opening became first a probability and then a certainty. 

268. Railroad Strike. —In March, 1886, began, on the 
line of the Missouri Pacific Railway in Missouri and Kan¬ 
sas, the most extensive strike in the history of railroads in 
those States. The men in the operative department of the 
road left work at Sedalia on the 6th of March, and thence the 
strike spread to all the centres of extensive railroad employ¬ 
ment, as Wyandotte, Atchison and Parsons. On the 30tli 
of March, thirty engines were disabled at Atchison. On 
the 24th of April, a freight train was wrecked at Wyan¬ 
dotte, and the engineer and fireman were killed. Governor 
Martin held consultations with Governor Marmaduke of 
Missouri, endeavored to bring about an arrangement 
between the striking men and the railroad companies, and 
had great hopes of success, but, in consequence of the 
disturbed conditions at Parsons, ordered Colonel L. L. 


172 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Patrick, of the First Kansas Militia, to call out companies 
from Olathe, Humboldt, Columbus, Girard, Ottawa, Fort 
Scott and Garnett. The strike was declared off and ended 
in the last of April. It caused much suffering, both to the 
working people and the general public. It was apparently 
under the direction of a man named Martin Irons, who disap¬ 
peared from the control of affairs after the strike was over. 
The original cause was the discharge from employment 
of a foreman in the Missouri Pacific car shops, at Marshall, 
Tex. 

269. Amos A. Lawrence. —The announcement of the 
death, at Nahant, Mass., of Amos A. Lawrence, was received 
with unusual tokens of respect at Lawrence, a city named 
in his honor. Mr. Lawrence was one of the organizers of 
the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society. His name was 
given to the new Free Soil settlement in the autumn of 
1854. In 1856, at a meeting held in Lawrence to institute 
a university, Mr. Lawrence was chosen a trustee. A gift 
of $10,000 in notes by Mr. Lawrence for educational pur¬ 
poses, and which was turned over to the Kansas State 
University on its location at Lawrence, was the first endow¬ 
ment of the institution. 

Amos Lawrence.was regarded, in a sense, as the father 
of Lawrence and of the University. The manufacturing 
city of Lawrence, Mass., was also named in his honor, and 
he was the founder of Lawrence University at Appleton, 
Wis. 

270. Election of 1886. In November, 1886, John A. 
Martin was re-elected Governor; A. P. Riddle, Lieutenant- 
Governor; E. B. Allen, Secretary of State; S. B. Bradford, 
Attorney-General; J. H. Lawliead, Superintendent of Public 


AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 


173 


Instruction; D. M. Valentine was elected Associate Justice; 
J.W. Hamilton, Treasurer, and Timothy McCarthy, Auditor; 
Congressmen Morrill, Anderson, Funston, Perkins, Ryan 
and Peters were re-elected, and E. J. Turner was elected 
from the Sixth District. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Death ravages the ranks of the old soldiers and pioneers of 

Kansas. 

2. The Quarter-Centennial of the admission of Kansas is cele¬ 

brated at Topeka. 

3. A reunion 6f the surviving members of the Wyandotte Consti¬ 

tutional Convention is held at Kansas City, Kan. 

4. In 1882, George W. Glick was elected Governor. 

5. Kansas extended aid to sufferers by flood in the Ohio valley. 

6. “Kansas Day” is generally observed by the schools, and the 

sunflower is adopted as the State emblem. 

7. John A. Martin was elected Governor in 1884. 

8. To the list of State institutions were added, during the years 

1880-1890, the Asylum for Imbeciles, the State Soldiers’ 
Home, the Reform School for Girls, the Soldiers’ Orphans’ 
Home, and the State Reformatory. The United States 
established the National Soldiers’ Home and Haskell Insti¬ 
tute. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


THE HAPPENINGS OP 1887. 

271. Governor Martin’s Opinion on Indebtedness.— 

Governor John A. Martin, on the opening of the Legislature 
of 1887, took occasion to remark in his message: “The 
steady and enormous growth of bonded indebtedness amply 
justifies alarm. It seems to me that in view of the facts and 
figures presented, it is the imperative duty of the Legisla¬ 
ture to repeal at once every law authorizing the creation of 
municipal indebtedness for any purpose whatever, except, 
perhaps, the building of schoolhouses.” 

272. Speculation. —On the 1st of January, 1887, the 
great Kansas “boom” was booming, and it continued for 
many months. On that date it was announced that the 
manufactures of Wichita, the past year, had yielded $570,000; 
the amount paid in mercantile salaries had reached 
$1,910,180; her bank clearings were $18,870,598; the whole¬ 
sale trade was $15,076,000; the real estate sales $16,793,527. 
The list of real* estate sales made a newspaper column a 
day. Later in the season ninety-five acres of land near 
Wyandotte were sold for $450,000. 

273. Improvements. —In Topeka, in the year 1887, 
2,500 houses were erected, and $1,000,000 were devoted to 
public improvements. Eighty-one newspapers were started 
in a year. Natural gas was struck at Fort Scott, and many 
other points, and Paola indulged in a great celebration. 

174 


THE HAPPENINGS OF 1887. 


175 


The “Santa Fe,” the Missouri Pacific and Rock Island 
built through and through the State. 

274. State Buildings Remodeled.— “Syndicates’’ were 
organized to deal in real estate in many of the towns, and 
waterworks and electric light plants and street railways 
became numerous. During the “boom” period, the State 
fully kept up with the general and public desire for improve¬ 
ment. In that time the State University added to its build¬ 
ings “Snow Hall of Natural History'” costing $50,000. 
The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb erected three build¬ 
ings costing $82,000. The Asylum for Idiotic and Imbecile 
Youth, at Winfield, completed a new building at a cost of 
$25,000. On the two insane asylums at Osawatomie and 
Topeka, in the four years closing with the year 1888, there 
were expended $353,000. 

The State Capitol, begun in 1866, grew apace. The old 
east wing was remodeled at a cost of $140,000. In 1879 
the west wing was begun, and occupied in 1881, and com¬ 
pleted in 1882. Work was begun on the central building 
in 1881, and still continues. A contract was let for a new 
wing of the State Normal School building at Emporia. The 
substantial completion of a building for a State Reformatory, 
at Hutchinson, was announced, but some years were to 
elapse before its occupation. The State continued its 
interest in tree culture, and established a forestry station 
near Fort Dodge. 

275. State Reformatory. —The idea of a State Reforma¬ 
tory was suggested to the Kansas State Board of Charities 
by the celebrated Reformatory at Elmira, N. Y. The aim 
and object of the institution being the reformation rather than 
the punishment of youthful criminals between the ages of 


176 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


sixteen and twenty-five; boys under the limit of age being 
sent to the State Reform School at Topeka. The system at 
the Reformatory implies a graded course of treatment, the 
condition and comfort of the prisoner being made depend¬ 
ent on his conduct. 

276. Educational Institutions. — The schools and 
other public institutions of the State were remembered by 
communities and by individuals. The library of the 
Soldiers 7 Home was enlarged by 2,000 volumes, collected 
for it before his death by 'Henry Ward Beecher. The 
Catholic building and grounds at Atchison are valued at 
$500,000. On the 5th of April, 1887, the Kansas Wesleyan 
University at Salina was dedicated. 

In March, ground was broken at Sterling for the 
Cooper Memorial College. In July Bethany College, 
at Lindsborg, announced the completion of a new and 
splendid building. A German Baptist (Dunkard) Col¬ 
lege was located at McPherson. The Hiawatha Academy 
at Hiawatha was established. The Central Normal Col¬ 
lege of Great Bend was established by Professor Wm. 
Stryker. 

Bethel College, located at Newton, is one of two Menno- 
nite colleges in the United States. St. John’s Military 
School at Salina, a school for boys, under the control of 
the Episcopal Church, was established in 1887. 

The older and later educational institutions of the State, 
as Baker University, Highland Academy, Ottawa University, 
the College of Emporia, Midland College at Atchison, 
Southwest Kansas College at Winfield, Fairmount College 
at Wichita, St. John’s Lutheran College at Winfield, and 
many others, felt the impetus of this period. 


THE HAPPENINGS OF 1887. 


177 


277. Inauguration Ceremonies. —On the 20th of 
January, 1887, occurred the second inauguration of Gover¬ 
nor Martin. The ceremonies were attended by Governors 
Robinson, Carney, Osborn, Anthony and St. John. Gover¬ 
nors Glick, Crawford and Harvey were absent. 

278. Extension of Suffrage.— The Kansas Senate, on 
the 28th of January, 1887, and the House, on the 11th of 
February, passed the municipal suffrage bill, which con¬ 
ferred on women in Kansas at school, bond and municipal 
elections, the same right to vote possessed by men. The 
bill received the signature of Governor Martin on the 14th 
of February. About 26,000 women voted at the following 
spring election, and Mrs. Medora Salter was elected Mayor 
of Argonia, perhaps the first woman in the world to hold 
the office. 

279. Labor Legislation. — The Legislature, which 
adjourned on the 5th of March, legislated in regard to the 
arbitration of labor controversies, limited the amount of 
bonds to be issued to railroads, and submitted two amend¬ 
ments to the State Constitution; one to strike out the word 
“■white/ ? and one “concerning the purchase, enjoyment 
and descent of property.” Clifford C. Baker was elected 
State Printer. 

280. Centre of Population. —The centre of population 
of the State, which in 1865 was in the western part of 
Douglas County, was announced to be, in 1887, in the 
northwest part of Marion County. 

In the year 1887, 812 schoolhouses were built in Kansas. 

281. Mrs. Northrup’s Gift. — It was made known, 
through the Historical Society, that by a contribution of 
$1,000 by Mrs. Margaret Northrup, of Brooklyn, N. Y., a 


178 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


pew for citizens of Kansas had been secured forever in the 
Metropolitan M. E. Church, in Washington; D. C. 

The largest individual land owner in Kansas is said to be 
Mr. James P. Pomeroy, of Atchison, who owns 60,000 acres. 

282. Explosion Near Fort Scott. —An explosion on 
the 25th of January, on a Missouri Pacific train near Fort 
Scott, caused probably the loudest and most frightful 
noise ever known in Kansas. Two hundred cases of giant 
powder exploded at a single blast. But one man, a brake- 
man, was killed, but houses were shaken throughout Bour¬ 
bon county, window panes were broken in Nevada, Mo., 
twenty-five miles distant, and $10,000 worth of plate and 
other glass was destroyed in Fort Scott. 

283. Remarkable Fossil Discovery. —Mr. S. S. Hand 
sent to Chancellor Snow, of the State University, a fossil 
fish, found in Hamilton county, and Professor Snow wrote: 
“My view about your fine fish is, that it lived and died 
when what is now Hamilton county, Kan., more than 3,000 
feet above the present sea level, was under the salt water 
ocean. Remains of fishes, sharks and great sea monsters 
are found abundantly in the rocks of Western Kansas, 
especially along the banks of the Smoky Hill river and its 
branches. In fact, the ocean covered the entire western 
portion of the United States. The Rocky Mountains were 
not upheaved when your fish lived and died.” 

Kansas is an attractive field for the labors of the paleon¬ 
tologist, especially in the Niobrara formation in Rooks, 
Ellis and Trego counties. Of the thirteen fossilized birds 
of the North American continent and Europe, catalogued 
in 1873, seven species were found in Kansas. Of saurians, 
or lizards, thirty-one are found in the small strip of the 


THE HAPPENINGS OF 1887. 


179 


Niobrara in Kansas to four in all of Europe. In the ocean 
which covered what is now Kansas, sharks swam numer¬ 
ously, as many as three hundred of their teeth having been 
found in a space of thirty inches square. The fossil beds 
of Kansas have been intelligently and diligently searched 
for many years, and invaluable specimens have been pre¬ 
served in the collections of the State University and other 
Kansas institutions of learning, and of Yale University, 
where they have attracted the attention of the scientists of 
the world. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Governor Martin advised the repeal of laws authorizing the 

creation of municipal indebtedness. 

2. In 1887 the “Kansas Boom” was at its highest. 

3. Snow Hall was built, the State Reformatory was completed, 

new buildings were added to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum 
and the Imbecile Asylum; State Capitol remodeled. 

4. Large number of colleges established and 812 schoolhouses 

were built. 

5. On February 14,1888, the municipal suffrage bill became a law. 

6. Two amendments to the Constitution were submitted. 

7. The center of population was announced to be in Marion county. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


A PROSPEROUS YEAR. 

284. Recovery. —The year 1888 was a year of recovery, 
in an agricultural sense, from the disasters of 1887, a year 
of drought in Kansas and throughout the Western States. 
These periods of recovery have often been noticed in Kansas 
history. _ The “bad years 77 in the first thirty years of 
Kansas, viz., 1860,1868, 1870, 1874, and 1887 were followed 
by seasons of uncommon fruitfulness. 

285. Mexican Pilgrimage.— The passage through the 
State, by rail, of a party of 250 Mexican people on a pil¬ 
grimage to Rome, was a reminder of the changed order of 
travel and transportation. Such pilgrimages had not been 
unknown in Mexico before, but had been undertaken entirely 
by sea from Mexican ports. These pilgrims recognized the 
opening of a great continental route through the United 
States via Kansas, eating, drinking, sleeping, and assembling 
in the cars for their devotions as they journeyed. 

286. Disappearance of the Buffalo.— It was announced 
that the last buffalo remaining in Kansas was sold by Mr. 
C. J. Jones to a party in New York, and was to leave the 
State. The event created but a sentimental regret. The 
disappearance of the buffalo, which existed in Kansas in 
such' numbers, even after the settlement of the State had 
begun, as to delay the passage of railroad trains, was 
regarded like the vanishing of the Indian, as inevitable and 

180 


A PROSPEROUS YEAR. 


181 


not to be deplored. The buffalo served a purpose in earliest 
days by furnishing his meat, hide and bones for the tem¬ 
porary uses of the pioneer, but the latter found no difficulty 
in subsisting without them after the supply was withdrawn. 
Much more of a loss than the buffalo himself was that of 
the buffalo grass, which formed the pasturage of countless 
thousands of these animals both winter and summer. This 
began to give way to a coarser and less nutritious herbage 
with the disappearance of the tramping herds. On the other 
hand, it was claimed by competent observers that the earth 
became more absorptive of moisture and responsive to cul¬ 
tivation. The disappearance of the buffalo wallow, the 
prairie dog town, and the botanic family of the cacti, marked 
the surrender of the land to fertility and civilization. ^ 

287. Death of Judge Samuel D. Leeompte.— In April, 
1888, died in Kansas City, Mo., Judge Samuel D. Leeompte, 
first Chief Justice of Kansas Territory, appointed by Presi¬ 
dent Pierce, in 1854. Judge Lecompte’s name was promi¬ 
nent in the angry discussions of that troubled time, yet he 
lived in peace in Kansas for many years afterward, in the 
midst of the quieted disputants, and died at the age of 
seventy-four. 

288. Thomas Carney. —On the 30th of July, Thomas 
Carney, second Governor of Kansas, and the first to fall 
out of the line of Kansas chief magistrates, was buried in 
honor at his long-time home, Leavenworth. Governor 
Carney was born in Delaware county, Ohio, August 20, 
1827. He came to Leavenworth in 1858 and became imme¬ 
diately engaged in extensive mercantile business. He was 
elected Governor in 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, 
and was one of the Kansas “War Governors.” At a critical 


182 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


period in the financial history of the State he pledged his 
private fortune to preserve the public credit. 

289. Stevens County Difficulties.— In July, 1888, 
Governor Martin issued his proclamation organizing the 
county of Greeley, with Tribune as the county seat. This 
completed the organization of Kansas counties, 106 in all. 
Subsequently, the county of Garfield was attached to Finney 
county, and the number reduced to 105. 

In the last days of July, information reached Topeka that 
the troubles in Stevens county had again broken out in an 
aggravated form. Brigadier-General Mj^ers and Attorney- 
General Bradford were sent to the county and learned that 
Sheriff Cross, of Stevens county, and a party of four men 
belonging to the Woodsdale faction, had gone over into the 
section known as No-Man 7 s Land, and coming to the camp 
of some parties making hay, had asked permission to lie 
down and sleep. While thus reposing, they were surprised 
by a party of fourteen men from Hugo ton—Woodsdale and 
Hugoton being rival towns—and Sheriff Cross and three of 
his men were killed and a fourth wounded. 

290. Militia to Preserve Order. —The county was 
found in a State of great excitement, and the Second Regi¬ 
ment of Kansas militia was ordered to the county to pre¬ 
serve order. 

Six men were arrested at Hugoton by the United States 
Marshal, who accompanied the troops, on complaint of 
Samuel N. Wood, and arraigned before the United States 
Commissioner, at Topeka, and released on bail. It was 
decided that No-Man 7 s Land was not within the jurisdic¬ 
tion of Kansas, and they were subsequently brought to trial 
at Paris, Tex. 


A PROSPEROUS YEAR. 


183 


291. Effects of Stevens County War.— The “Stev¬ 
ens county war,” which was destined to have other evil 
effects, caused much indignation and disgust throughout 
the States. ‘County seat fights” with accompaniments of 
fraud and violence, had not been unknown in Kansas, but 
that the contentions of rival villages should be carried to 
the point of murder, and necessitate the interference of the 
arm of the State, was felt to be a great hardship and disgrace. 

292. Haskell Institute. —In September, 1888, Gover¬ 
nor Charles Robinson resigned the Superintendency of the 
Haskell Institute, at Lawrence, which, under his care, had 
attained a high state of efficiency. Additions were made 
to the institution, increasing its capacity by 300 more 
students. 

293. Natural Resources. —The search for gas and 

other natural resources continued. Professor Robert Hay 
estimated, in October, 1888, that $150,000 had been 
expended in the various borings for coal, oil and gas. At 
some points the search proved successful. In September, 
natural gas was used for lighting and heating the State 
Insane Asylum at Osawatomie. A mill at Humboldt uses 
gas for-fuel, and the boundaries of the natural gas belt in 
the State began to be defined. 

In 1888 the first salt was made at Kingman, and it was 
claimed that it would require ten years to exhaust an acre 
of the natural rock salt supply at Hutchinson. One natural 
resource after another was discovered, claimed or developed; 
soapstone here, gypsum there. At one place it was reported 
that in boring for gas, coal and oil had been discovered. 

294. Mine Disaster.— On the 19th of November, hap¬ 
pened in Cherokee county, the most fatal mine disaster in 


184 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


the history of Kansas. On the morning of that day 164 
miners were lowered in Frontenac mine, No. 2, of the Sant^ 
Fe Coal Company. At the noon intermission, the shots 
were fired in safety, and the miners descended for their 
afternoon work. At half past five, arrangements had been 
made for firing, but before a man had been hoisted there 
came a frightful explosion. At first it was believed that 
no one had escaped, but the final count placed the loss of 
lives at thirty-nine, with a large number of burned and 
wounded. The explosion was deemed by the miners the 
result of carelessness or incompetence on the part of the 
State Mine Inspector, and a large convention of miners 
demanded his removal. 

295. Rev. Innocent Wolf an Arch Abbot. —The Right 
Rev. Innocent Wolf, of Atchison, was raised to the position 
of Arch Abbot of the Benedictine Order in the United States. 
This Order is one of the oldest and most powerful of the 
religious orders in the Catholic church, and its establish¬ 
ment in Kansas one of the most important in the United 
States. 

296. Railroads in 1888.— In 1888 it was noted that 
the present system of railroads in Kansas would make 
twenty lines running parallel the length of the State. The 
State is 400 miles long, and there are 8,000 miles of railroad. 
Perhaps it was in view of the extent of Kansas railroad 
facilities that fewer railroad bonds were voted by Kansas, 
in 1888, than in any previous year of its history. 

297. State Industrial School. —The city of Beloit 
secured, in January, 1888, the Industrial School for Girls, 
established by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, 
donating to the institution eighty acres of land. It was 


A PROSPEROUS YEAR. 


185 


opened temporarily in February. The school became a 
State institution by the action of the Legislature of 1889. 

298. Prohibition Law Strengthened.— The Prohibi¬ 
tion Law received additional judicial sanction by the affirma¬ 
tion by the State Supreme Court of the constitutionality of 
the Metropolitan Police Law. 

299. Death of David Ware. —David Ware, for twenty- 
six years janitor of the Kansas State House, died in Topeka, 
in September, 1888. He was born a 
slave in Missouri, and came to Kansas 
during the war. He took charge of 
the Capitol on its first occupation by 
the State, and continued its custodian 
to the close of his life. His fidelity 
and honesty were unimpeachable. His 
funeral was attended by the officers of 
the State, and his character was made 
the subject of eulogy by the Governor. 

300. Gift to the Kansas State Medical Society.— 
Mrs. Jane Stormont, widow of Dr. D. W. Stormont, a 
pioneer physician of Topeka, gave to the Kansas State 
Medical Society $5,000, to be used in maintaining a library 
of medical books in connection with the State Library. 

301. Election of 1888. —In November, 1888, occurred 
the National and State election. The vote of Kansas was 
given to Benjamin Harrison, who received 182,356 votes 
to 102,725 for Grover Cleveland. For Governor, Hum¬ 
phrey, Republican, received 181,318 votes; Martin, Demo¬ 
crat, 107,822; Elder, Union Labor, 36,230; Botkin, 
Prohibitionist, 6,452; plurality for Humphrey, 72,405. 



David Ware. 




186 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The State officers chosen in 1888 were L. U. Humphrey, 
Governor; Andrew J. Felt, Lieutenant-Governor; William 
Higgins, Secretary of State; J. W. Hamilton, Treasurer, 
Timothy McCarthy, Auditor; L. B. 
Kellogg, Attorney-General; George W. 
Winans, Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction ; William A. Johnston, Associate 
Justice of Supreme Court. The entire 
Congressional delegation chosen in 1886 
was re-elected in 1888. The Republicans 
carried every county in the State for 
President, and all the counties, save 
Leavenworth and Ellis, for Governor. 
302. Relics. —The Historical Society’s collection was 
increased by some interesting relics of ancient Kansas. 
From a mound near Lindsborg was obtained, by one of the 
professors in Bethany College, a frag- 
• ment of Spanish chain mail, dating 
back, perhaps, to Coronado; and from 
a point on the Arkansas river, near 
Garden City, a peace medal, bearing 
on one side a medallion of President 
Van Buren, and the words “Martin 
Van Buren, President of the United 
States, A. D. 1837.” On the obverse, 
a soldier’s hand clasping the hand of 
an Indian, over which are a tomahawk 
and pipe crossed, and the words, “Peace 
and Friendship. ’ ’ 

The piece of chain mail is interesting as being the only 
trace or relic ever found within the limits of Kansas of 



Chain Mail. 



Governor L. U. Humphrey. 








A PROSPEROUS YEAR. 


187 


Spanish occupation. While the history of the country as 
a civilized possession commonly begins with the march of 
Coronado, and Spain declared sovereignty even after the 
Spanish flag had been lowered at St. Louis on the cession 
of Upper Louisiana, March 9, 1804, as Lieutenant Pike 
found it flying at the Pawnee village in Kansas in September 
1806, this bit of rusty armor is all remaining to show that 
the Spanish arms were ever carried into the limits of Kansas. 
\ 

SUMMARY. 

1. The year 1888 marked a revived agricultural prosperity in 

Kansas. 

2. Judge Samuel D. Lecompte, First Chief Justice of the Terri¬ 

tory, and Thomas Carney, died in the year. 

3. County seat contests result in bloodshed—militia called out 

to preserve order. 

4. Governor Robinson resigned the Superintendency of Haskell 

Institute. 

5. Disastrous mine explosion in Cherokee county, resulting in 

the loss of many lives. 

6. The Industrial School for Girls established at Beloit. 

7. David Ware, Janitor of the Capitoi, died in Topeka. 

8. Mrs. Jane Stormont gave $5,000 to State Medical Society. 

9. Benjamin Harrison received the electoral vote of Kansas. 

10. Lyman U. Humphrey elected Governor. 

11. Valuable relics of Spanish and Indian occupation found. 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 


1889. —THE DEVELOPING RESOURCES. 

303. Messages to the Legislature. —The Legislature 
of 1889 assembled on the 8th of January, and the House was 
organized by the choice of Captain Henry Booth as Speaker, 
and H. L. Millard as Clerk. Governor John A. Martin 
delivered to the Legislature a retiring, and Governor L. U. 
Humphrey an inaugural, message. The attention of the 
Legislature was especially directed to the condition of the 
debtor classes, and the need of legislation in their behalf. 
Governor Martin called attention to the mortgage laws. 
He said: “It should require something more than a mort¬ 
gage to steal a man’s farm. Our chattel mortgage laws 
invite outrages on property rights, that are as flagrant as 
grand larceny, and the wrong and injustice that has been 
done under the shield of these laws has been a disgrace to 
civilized government. ’ ’ 

304. Legislative Acts.— On the 23d of January, 1889, 
the joint session of the Legislature elected Preston B. 
Plumb United States Senator from the State of Kansas, for 
a third term, by a unanimous vote. Clifford C. Baker was 
re-elected State Printer. The most noticeable acts of the 
Legislature were the creation of the office of Commissioner 
of Elections, to be appointed by the Governor in cities of 
the first-class, for a term of four years; an Act authorizing 
cities and townships to issue bonds and to subscribe stock 

188 


1889.—THE DEVELOPING RESOURCES. 


189 


for sugar manufactories; to increase the amount of bounty 
to be paid on sugar manufactured in Kansas from $15,000 
to $40,000. 

There was an Act, also, appropriating $36,000 for build¬ 
ings for the G.A. R., at Ellsworth; an appropriation to 
establish a State Soldiers’ Home, whenever Congress shall 
give one of the National Military reservations as a site 
therefor. The Legislature also passed an Act, which went 
into effect May 25, 1889, reducing the rate of interest by 
contract from twelve to ten per cent, and the legal rate from 
seven to six per cent. 

305. Manufacture of Sugar. —The industry which 
most engaged the energies of Kansas in 1889 was the 
manufacture of sugar from the sorghum cane. For several 
years the attempt to manufacture sugar at a profit from the 
native cane had been carried on, and factories erected at 
various points. The United States Agricultural Depart¬ 
ment had been enlisted, and Government chemists aided in 
the experiments. The result of a series of costly experi¬ 
ments at Ottawa, Sterling, and other places, was the dis¬ 
covery and admission that sugar could not be made from 
the sorghum cane in paying quantity by the “roller” pro¬ 
cess employed in the treatment of the true, or Louisiana 
cane, but the showing of a series of trials at Fort Scott 
was claimed as demonstrating the efficiency of the “diffu¬ 
sion” process. The Legislature offered a bounty of two 
cents a pound on sugar manufactured in the State, to the 
amount of $15,000. This bounty was afterwards reduced 
to three-quarters of a cent per pound, but the total amount 
raised to $40,000. In 1889, sugar factories were built at 
Ness City, Meade Center and Liberal, in addition to a large 


190 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


number already in existence. In September, 1889, Jeremiah 
M. Rusk, United States Secretary of Agriculture, visited 
Kansas, and published that the manufacture of sugar was 
a success beyond his anticipations; that at Conway Springs 
the product of sugar had reached twelve per cent, a profit 
of ten per cent. The sugar crop of 1889. on which the 
State bounty was paid amounted to 1,293,274 pounds, and 
in 1890 to 1,371,930 pounds. 

306. Bonds Voted. —Bonds were voted by municipali¬ 
ties in aid of sugar mills and refineries. The aid proposed 
reaching, in some instances, $100,000 in bonds. In time, 
however, a plan to bond a large number of southwestern 
counties, by townships, was denounced as fraudulent, and 
checked to a considerable extent further bond issues in aid 
of the sugar manufacture. The manufacture was continued 
for some years. In 1892 but two sugar mills, those at Medi¬ 
cine Lodge and Fort Scott, received the State subsidy, the 
product being 998,100 pounds of sugar. In the course of 
events the Government and State aid was withdrawn. A 
very large amount of useful information was obtained in 
regard to the nature and uses of the Chinese cane, and on 
other points of interest, for which a good price was paid. 

307. Salt Industry. —The salt making industry, which 
had received a considerable impetus in 1887, and, in fact, 
had been carried on to some extent from the beginning of 
the settlement of the State, but which produced but 13,000 
bushels in 1880, was enormously increased in 1889. Early 
in the year, Senator Plumb made the statement that “the 
development of the salt industry in Kansas has had the 
effect of reducing the price of salt in the Mississippi valley 
west of Kansas, twenty-five per cent, from the prices pre- 


1889.—THE DEVELOPING RESOURCES. 


191 


vailing twelve months ago.” In January, Wellington 
organized its eighth salt company. Hutchinson already had 
ten salt plants in operation, with more in course of con¬ 
struction. McPherson had made a promising start, and 
Kingman, Lyons, Anthony, Sterling, Great Bend, and other 
points were engaged in the manufacture. The salt deposit 
was reached at depths varying from 420 to 925 feet. 



Mill at Junction City, Kan 


308. Corn. —The year 1889 was the greatest ‘ ‘corn year, ’ ’ 
so far, in the agricultural annals of the State, the figures 
being 6,820,693 acres, with a yield of 273,988,321 bushels; 
valued at $51,649,876.18; an average yield of 40.15 bushels 
to the acre. This inspired a Kansas writer to write of 
Kansas corn: 



192 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


“Corn is the sign and seal of a good American agricul¬ 
tural country. Corn is an American institution; one of the 
discoveries of the continent. It is of the American West. 
It reaches its best estate between the Alleghanies and the 
Rockies. It was known by the Indians, and to cultivate it 
was one of the few agricultural temptations which overcame 
their proud and haughty contempt for labor. 

“Corn is the test. A good country, in a farming sense, 
is one that ‘brings 7 good corn. If it will not do that, then 
it may be a good country for something else, but it is not 
an American farmer’s country. It requires a long season, 
plenty of rain, a thorough-going sun that attends to busi¬ 
ness, but knows when to stop; a generous soil, and the 
best elemental treatment from the warm, soft day on which 
it is planted, till the ‘frost is on the pumpkin and the 
fodder’s in the shock.’ Hence, when you say that a given 
region is a good corn country, you have said it will raise 
anything that grows in the temperate zone. 

“Corn makes the country and the people who live in it. 
It fattens hogs and cattle, and so fine-haired people, who 
live on cracked wheat and philosophy, claim that it has a 
coarseness about it that imparts itself to the people who eat 
it; but, for all that, it is the food of men who turn wilder¬ 
nesses to fruitful fields, span continents, and fight great 
battles. 

“Kansas has corn, and so is in luck. Scoffers and 
ribalds talk about the Kansas man burning corn; and it is 
one of the merits of corn that it makes a good fire, but the 
Kansas man knows better than that. Everywhere in every 
farmer’s dooryard is to be seen a great pile of red and white 
corn cobs, clean and bright, which burn like tinder. The 


1889.—THE DEVELOPING RESOURCES. 


193 


corn sheller goes around like the threshing machine, and 
shells the -corn and piles up the cobs. The cob is a com¬ 
mercial fact. At Sedan there is a factory that turns out 
millions of cob pipes. The Kansas man can burn his cob 
or he can smoke it.” 

309. Harbor Convention. —In response to a call by 
Governor Humphrey, a convention of delegates from many 
of the Western and Southern States assembled at Topeka, 
October 1, 1889, to devise means for securing a deep-water 
harbor on the coast of Texas. 600 delegates responded, 
including Governor Thayer, of Nebraska, Governor Francis, 
of Missouri, seven ex-Governors, nine Congressmen, and 
many other men of prominence. Fifteen States and Terri¬ 
tories were represented. United States Senator Plumb 
presided over the deliberations of the convention. 

310. Women Officials. —In 1889 five towns elected 
women Mayors: Argonia, Oskaloosa, Cottonwood Falls, 
Rossville and Baldwin. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Governor Martin condemns the mortgage laws. 

2. Preston B. Plumb was unanimously elected United States 

Senator for a third term. The Legislature passed acts 
authorizing cities and townships to issue bonds, and sub¬ 
scribe stock for sugar manufactories; appropriated $36,000 
for G. A. R. building; reduced rate of interest by contract 
from ten per cent to six per cent. 

3. The manufacture of sorghum sugar was vigorously carried on. 

4. The salt industry became greatly augmented. 

5. The yield of corn averaged 40.15 per acre; the total crop being 

valued at $51,649,676.18. 

6. Deep-water convention convened at Topeka, October 1, 1889. 

7. Five towns elected women Mayors. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA. 

311. Opening* of Oklahoma.— In the early months of 
1889 there was an evident increase in the interest felt in the 
opening of Oklahoma to settlement; the so-called boomers 
collected in large numbers, at points on the border, more 
especially Arkansas City and Caldwell. The active mem¬ 
bers of the boomer element continued to make raids into 
Oklahoma, and were as often removed by the military. 

The progress of the Bill before Congress to open up 
Oklahoma for settlement, was followed with alternations of 
hope and fear. At last the suspense was ended by the 
proclamation of the President announcing the date of the 
opening of Oklahoma, and the regulations under which the 
1,800,000 acres of land were to be taken. 

312. Preparation. —The principal points from which 
the Strip was to be entered from Kansas were Caldwell, 
Hunnewell and Arkansas City. 

The Strip was filled with people, and the night before the 
eventful day a line of camp fires shone from the Oklahoma 
boundary to the Kansas line. Everything was planned in 
advance. The Government functionaries were waiting in 
the land offices in Oklahoma. The town sites had been 
selected and named. Guthrie, destined to be the capital, 
named in honor of a citizen of Kansas, had its thousands 
of foreordained citizens, as did other town sites. In at least 


194 


KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA. 


195 


one instance there was an announced candidate for Mayor 
of one of the future cities, the day before the “rush.” 

313. The Rush. —At noon, on the 22d of April, 1889, 
at sound of bugle came the instantaneous occupation of 
Oklahoma. The United States cavalrymen, drawn up in 
front of the multitude of vehicles, crowded with people, 
and a great host of horsemen, mounted for the most part 
on wiry prairie ponies, moved forward, wheeled to the 
right and left to clear the way, and the occupying wave, 
made up, as was estimated along the border, of 40,000 
human beings, swept into Oklahoma. There was a moment 
of peril at the line, and then the mass opened out like a 
fan, and all was safe. From Arkansas City six great rail¬ 
road trains, carrying 6,000 people, moved in the evening 
into the new country. 

314. Effect on Kansas. —Kansas bore a great part in 
the opening and occupation of the Territory. It was esti¬ 
mated that the population of Kansas was diminished by 
50,000. But Kansas is like the wondrous bush in the 
wilderness of old, burning, but never consumed. In the 
year 1889, which saw the opening of Oklahoma, half of 
the public lands taken in the United States were located in 
the States of Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota and Colorado. In 
1888, the report of the Secretary of the Interior showed 
that 1,550,235 acres had been patented in Kansas. 

315. County Seat Difficulties. —In January, 1889, 
the contention of Ingalls and Cimarron for the seat of 
justice of Gray county, rendered the presence of troops 
necessary. After three men had been killed, General 
Murray Myers, of the State troops, visited the disturbed 
locality. The controversy was finally ended by the order 


196 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


of the Supreme Court compelling the removal of the county 
records to Cimarron. 

316. Monument of General Grant.— On the 17th of 
September was unveiled at Fort Leavenworth the first 
monument erected in memory of General Grant. The 
statue is by Laredo Taft. George R. Peck delivered on 
the occasion an impressive dedicatory address. 

317. Kansas at the Paris Exposition. —Kansas was 
represented at the Paris Exposition, and received a gold 
medal for the best agricultural report exhibited; a silver 
medal for the publications of the State Labor Department, 
and honorable mention for the exhibits of the Douglas and 
Conway Springs sugar manufactories. 

318. John A. Martin. —On the 2d of October, 1889, 
John A. Martin, Tenth Governor of Kansas, died at Atchi¬ 
son. He came to Kansas from Pennsylvania, his native 
State, in 1857, his eighteenth year, and soon became editor 
and proprietor of the Atchison Champion , and was dis¬ 
tinguished as a Kansas journalist, statesman and soldier 
from his early youth. He was Secretary of the Wyan¬ 
dotte Constitutional Convention, and a member of the 
first State Senate. He served in the Civil War as Colonel 
of the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, and com¬ 
manded the First Brigade, Third Division, Fourth Army. 
Corps, and the Third Brigade, First Division, Twentieth 
Army Corps. He was elected Governor in 1884, and again 
in 1886. He was buried with military and civic honors 
of the most imposing character in Mount Vernon ceme¬ 
tery, Atchison. 

Among the many positions of honor and usefulness occu¬ 
pied by Governor Martin, was for years that of member 


197 


/ 

KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA. 

and Vice-President of the Board of Managers of the National 
Soldiers’ Home. He was deeply interested in the Nation’s 
provision for the care of its veteran soldiers and his counsel 
and effort was given to the establishment of the Western 
Branch, which was located near Leavenworth, and has grown 
to be one of the finest military asylums in the country or 
the world. 


SUMMARY. 

1. The opening 1 of Oklahoma on the 22d of April, 1889, is partici¬ 

pated in by a great crowd of Kansas people. 

2. The county seat fight in Gray county excites attention. 

3. A monument to General Grant is unveiled at Fort Leavenworth. 

4. Kansas is recognized at the Paris Exposition. 

5. John A. Martin, tenth Governor of Kansas, dies at Atchison. 



First Cathedral of Kansas. 


CHAPTER XXX. 


NEW POLITICAL FORCES. 

319. Reunion of the First Supreme Court.— In 1890 

began the fourth decade of the history of Kansas. 

Early in the year 1890, the meeting of the Kansas State 
Bar Association was made the occasion of a reunion of the 
original Supreme Court of the State, composed of Thomas 
Ewing, Jr., as Chief Justice, and Samuel A. Kingman and 
Lawrence D. Bailey, Associate Justices. All the surviving 
judges who had been members of the court were present, 
and recollections were revived of the first session of the 
tribunal, held in an upper room of the “Gale Block/ 7 in 
Topeka, in 1861. It was remembered that the court was 
opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Steele, of Topeka, and 
also that there were no causes ready for hearing. A very 
impressive address was delivered by ex-Chief Justice Ewing. 

320. Grippe. —In January, 1890, Kansas was visited 
for the first time by the disease since known as the grippe, 
though at first spoken of as influenza, and said to have 
been introduced from Russia. In Atchison, 1,000 cases 
were reported. 

321. Honorable David J. Brewer, Associate Jus¬ 
tice. —On January 6, 1890, Honorable David J. Brewer 
was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. Judge Brewer for years had occu¬ 
pied the District and Supreme Court bench of Kansas, and 

198 


NEW POLITICAL FORCES. 


199 


his choice to the highest court of the nation was regarded 
as an honor paid the State. 

322. Retirement of Colonel A. S. Johnson.— The 

land agents of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad 
Company held a social session in Topeka, 
and presented Colonel A. S. Johnson, 
the Land Commissioner of the company, 
with a silver service on the occasion of 
his retirement. It was regarded as the 
signal of the withdrawal of the company 
from the great land selling enterpris 
carried on for nearly twenty years, and 
which had disposed of an empire. The 
system by which millions of acres passed 
from the hands of the Government, and of a corporation, 
into the possession and ownership of individuals, with 
scarcely a trace of friction, was a business miracle. 

It was announced, in 1890, that Kansas Division, Union 
Pacific, was the only railroad company having any portion 
of its original grant for sale. 

323. Reverend Nehemiah Green. — The Reverend 
Nehemiah Green died at Manhattan, January 13, 1890. 
Governor Green was a native of Ohio, born March 8, 1837. 
He came to Douglas county, Kan., in 1855, but returned 
to Ohio, where he entered the ministry of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and also the Union army. In 1865 he 
returned to Kansas, and in 1866 was elected Lieutenant- 
Governor. He assumed the executive chair on the resigna¬ 
tion of Governor Samuel J. Crawford, to take command of 
the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry, and served to the end of 
the term. 



Colonel A. S. Johnson. 






200 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


324. The Farmers’ Alliance.— The Farmers’ Alliance, 
which had attained prominence, in 1889, as a secret and 
social organization composed of farmers, and devoted to the 
interests of all agriculturists, and admitting to its member¬ 
ship men and women, became, in 1890, an active political 
force. 

The impelling and controlling sentiment that led to the 
organization of the Alliance, was the belief that in the con¬ 
duct of government, and the making of laws, the farming, 
and, indeed, the laboring classes, generally, had been 
neglected or discriminated against. That capital was 
allowed undue weight, that corporations were allowed full 
sweep for unjust, avaricious and oppressive disposition, and 
escaped their just burden of taxation; that the loaner of 
money had all the' advantage in his transactions with the 
borrower; the mortgagee of the mortgagor; and that a 
Government originally designed on the basis of the free¬ 
dom and equality of all men, had become perverted, and 
was conducted on the principle that “to him that hath shall 
be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken even 
that which he hath.” 

325. Measures Urged. —The Farmers 7 Alliance urged 
measures of relief for the debtor class; a stay law for a 
period of two years; various measures for the benefit of 
mortgagors, especially an overhauling of the provisions of 
the chattel mortgage law; for the help of the shipper and 
the passenger as against the railroad companies, who, it was 
claimed, were deriving an exorbitant income from their 
rates, at the expense of the public. 

The Alliance asked for a law requiring land sold under 
foreclosure to bring the amount of the judgment and costs; 


NEW POLITICAL FORCES. 


201 


a law that should make the State Railroad Commissioners 
elective by the people; that should make United States 
Senators elective by the people, and various enactments and 
regulations that should give the people the opportunity to 
exercise their power directly, rather than by delegated 
agents. Doubtless many members of the Alliance asked 
more than this; none, it may be believed, demanded less. 

The complaint of all might be summed up as too much 
taxation; too much mortgage; too much reign of the rich; 
too little consideration of the poor; too much debt. The 
county indebtedness of Kansas had doubled in the ten years 
between 1880 and 1890. 

326. A New Party. —While there were some dis¬ 
avowals of any intention on the part of the Alliance, separ¬ 
ately or collectively, to take action after the manner of a 
political party, it w r as quite impossible that it should 
happen otherwise. Many local Alliances declared their 
intention to act together in support of certain political 
tenets, and particularly in opposition to certain political 
leaders of the old parties. A “ new party ’’ seemed inevitable. 

At a convention assembled at Topeka, June 12, 1890, 
delegates representing the Farmers’ Alliance, the Industrial 
Union, the Patrons of Husbandly, the Knights of Labor, 
the Farmers’ Mutual Benefit Association, and the Single 
Tax Clubs, organized the “People’s Party”, as it called 
itself in the State of Kansas, or the Populist Party, as it 
came to be popularly designated. Honorable B. H. Clover, 
President of the Farmers’ Alliance, was Chairman of the 
convention at which the People’s Party was organized. 

327. Original Package Case. —The controversy be¬ 
tween the advocates and opposers of the Prohibition Law 


202 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


in the meantime increased in bitterness. The former were 
greatly enraged by the sudden appearance in the State, at 
many different points, of liquor stores, acting, as they 
claimed, under the authority of a decision of the United 
States Supreme Court, in what was called the “Original 
Package Case,” coming from Iowa. The Court, or a 
majority, three justices dissenting, held that intoxicating 
liquors formed an article of commerce to be transported 
like any other article, and that no State had the power to 
prevent the importation of liquors in unbroken original 
packages. 

328. Wilson Bill. —The excitement caused was great. 
Large public meetings were held to denounce the original 
package saloons; the keepers were in some instances 
ordered out of town; in some cases the liquors were 
shipped, by the citizens, back whence they came. Many 
of the liquor sellers were arrested as violators of the law, 
but were usually discharged by the courts by virtue of the 
Supreme Court decision. At last remedial legislation was 
sought. Congress was appealed to, and the result was the 
passage of the “Anti-Original Package Law,” or the Wilson 
Bill, which established the right of a State to exercise its 
police power over any articles sent into it, whether in the 
original packages or otherwise. This ended one form of 
attempt to do, in the State of Kansas, that which the State 
says shall not be done. 

329. Chancellor of State University.— The choice of 
Professor Francis Huntington Snow, as Chancellor of the 
Kansas State University, ended a period of uncertainty and 
anxiety, and brought to the headship of the institution a 
man learned in many things, and especially in all things 


NEW POLITICAL FORCES. 


203 


pertaining to Kansas. Professor Snow began his work in 
the University in 1866, and employed the years to study 
everything between the heavens and earth of Kansas. 

Early in 1890 it was announced that Kansas was the first 
State to apply for space at the approaching World’s Colum¬ 
bian Exposition at Chicago. 

330. Eleventh Census.— In 1890 was taken the eleventh 
census of the United States. A large number of persons 
were employed in the work, and in obedience to a demand 
in Congress, a great deal of time and money was employed 
in collecting the amount of mortgage indebtedness, and, as 
far as possible, the reasons and causes of debt. 

The population of Kansas, as published by the Govern¬ 
ment Census Department, was placed at 1,423,485. This 
represents the population of the State June 1, 1890. 

331. Parties in 1890. —At the State election in Novem¬ 
ber, 1890, four tickets were placed in the field. The 
Republican, headed by Governor Humphrey, who was nom¬ 
inated for re-election; the Democratic, headed by Ex-Gov¬ 
ernor Charles Robinson; the People’s Party, with John F. 
Willitts as its candidate for Governor, and the Prohibitionist, 
led by Rev. A. M. Richardson. 

The official vote for Governor stood: Humphrey, 115,025; 
Willitts, 106,972; Robinson, 71,357; Richardson, 1,230. The 
entire Republican State ticket was elected—though by greatly 
reduced majorities, as compared with those of 1888—except 
L. B. Kellogg, candidate for Attorney-General. The Demo¬ 
crats, Populists, and Republican-Resubmissionists united 
on John N. Ives, and elected him. To the Legislature, 
ninety People’s Party members, twenty-seven Republicans, 
and seven Democrats were elected. 


204 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


332. State Officials Elected, 1 890. —The State officers 
elected in 1890 were L. U. Humphrey, Governor; A. J. Felt, 
Lieutenant-Governor; William Higgins, Secretary of State; 
C. M. Hovey, Auditor; S. G. Stover, Treasurer; George W. 
Winans, Superintendent of Public Instruction; John N. 
Ives, Attorney-General; A. H. Horton, Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court. 

333. Congressmen Elected. —Of the seven members 
of Congress elected from Kansas in 1890, two were classified 
as Republicans, four Fusion, and one Populist. The mem¬ 
bers chosen were: First District, Case Broderick; Second, 
E. H. Funston; Third, B. H. Clover; Fourth, John G. 
Otis; Fifth, John Davis; Sixth, William Baker; Seventh, 
Jerry Simpson. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Kansas was visited in 1890 by its first epidemic of grippe. 

2. Honorable D. J. Brewer made Associate-Justice of the Supreme 

Court of the United States. 

3. The A., T. & S. F. Railway Company retired from real estate 

business, after twenty-five years’ persistent work. 

4. Ex-Governor N. Green died at Manhattan. 

5. The Farmers’ Alliance became an active political force. 

6. The Anti-Prohibitionists attempt to nullify the prohibition law 

by the introduction of the Original Package. 

7 The Eleventh Census was taken. 

8. F. H. Snow chosen for Chancellor of the University. 

9. Governor Humphrey was re-elected. 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


THE LEGISLATURE AND CHRONICLES OF 1891. 

334. Installation and Organization.— The State Gov¬ 
ernment for the biennial period, beginning January 12, 1891, 
was installed without any special ceremonies, and even the 
inaugural ball was dispensed with. In these matters, Kan¬ 
sas hardly ever deviates into pomp, and there is a constantly 
recurring tendency to simplicity. 

The House was organized by the choice of P. P. Elder, of 
Franklin county, as Speaker, and Benjamin Rich, of Trego 
county, as Chief Clerk. The House differed in political sen¬ 
timent from the Senate and from the State administration. 

335. Retirement of John J. Ingalls. —On the 28th of 
January, 1891, Wm. A. Peffer received 101 votes for United 
States Senator, and was declared elected. Senator Ingalls 
retired from a service of eighteen years in the United States 
Senate, over which he was for four years the presiding 
officer, and had been a prominent figure in the eye of the 
nation. 

336. William Alfred Peffer.— William Alfred Peffer, 
who succeeded Mr. Ingalls, was, at the time of his election, 
sixty years of age. He was born of a family of German 
descent, in Cumberland county, Pa. He enjoyed limited 
common school advantages and then extended them to 
others, as a teacher, when still a boy. Lived in California 
two years. Enlisted as a Union soldier, serving over two 

205 


206 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


years in the Eighty-Third Illinois Volunteers, and attaining 
the rank of second lieutenant. He was admitted to the bar, 
came to Kansas, combined law and journalism, with a prefer¬ 
ence for the latter; became an advocate of the principles of 
the Farmers’ Alliance, and was chosen to the Senate as their 
representative and exponent. The Legislature elected E. H. 
Snow, State Printer. 

337. The Legislature. —The Legislature began its 
regular biennial session on January 13th, and adjourned on 
March 13th. As the adherents of the new People’s, or 
Farmers’ Alliance, Party were in control of the lower House, 
and of both Houses on joint ballot, the proceedings of the 
session were watched by the public with great interest. 

338. Irrigation. —An important act of the session pro¬ 
vided a system of law for the promotion of irrigation. It 
declared that all natural waters whether standing or running, 
and whether surface or subterranean, in that portion of the 
State west of the ninety-ninth meridian, shall be devoted, 
first, to purposes of irrigation in aid of agriculture subject 
to ordinary domestic uses, and second, to other industrial 
purposes, and may be diverted from its natural beds, basins, 
or channels for such purposes and uses, provided that exist¬ 
ing vested rights in such waters shall not be affected without 
due legal condemnation and compensation. Provision is 
made for the creation of irrigation districts, which are 
authorized to construct ditches and works, to borrow money 
and issue bonds, and to levy taxes to pay for such works. 
The charges for water supplied by any person or corpora¬ 
tion to another for irrigation, shall be fixed in each county 
by the county commissioners, and the rights and duties of 
such persons and corporations, as well as of public irrigation 


THE LEGISLATURE AND CHRONICLES OF 1891. 207 


districts, are defined at length. The sinking of artesian 
wells and the rights of owners thereof are also regulated. 

339. Grain Laws. —By another act the business of 
public warehousemen is carefully defined and restricted. 
The maximum rates for storage and handling of grain, 
including cost of receiving and delivering, are fixed at one 
cent a bushel for the first fifteen days, or parts thereof, one- 
half cent a bushel for each fifteen days, or part thereof, 
after the first fifteen, but not over four cents a bushel in 
the aggregate for continuous storage from November 15th 
to May 15th following. 

Any board of trade issuing licenses hereunder shall appoint 
a State weighmaster and such assistants as shall be needed 
for the transaction of business in its locality. 

There shall also be a State inspector of grain appointed 
by the Govornor, who shall appoint deputy inspectors upon 
the nomination of local boards of trade. The inspectors 
shall determine the grade of grain offered to public ware¬ 
houses, but an appeal may be taken from their decision. 

340. Appropriation. —The sum of $60,000 was appro¬ 
priated to purchase seed grain for those farmers who lost 
their crop by reason of the drought of 1890. The railroad 
commissioners were authorized to purchase such grain, and 
county commissioners of each county to distribute it, taking 
the note of each beneficiary for the cost of the grain sup¬ 
plied to him. 

341. Eig’ht-Hour Day. —Eight hours were declared to 
constitute a day’s work for all laborers, workmen, mechanics, 
or other persons employed by or in behalf of the State, or 
by or in behalf of any county, city, township, or other 
municipality of the State. Declaring the first Monday in 


208 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


September of each year a legal holiday to be known as 
“Labor Day / ’ To protect associations and unions of work¬ 
ingmen in their labels, trade marks, and form of advertising. 

342. Provision for a Convention.— Provision was 
made for submitting to the people, at the November election 
in 1892, the question whether a convention should be called 
to revise, amend, or change the State Constitution. 

343. Office of State Bank Commissioner. —Created 
the office of State Bank Commissioner, with salary of $2,500, 
and empowered him to close any bank that did not comply 
with the law. 

344. Alien Ownership of Land.— An act to prevent 
ownership of land by non-resident aliens, provides that 
every non-resident alien, firm of aliens, or corporations, 
incorporated under the laws of any foreign country, shall 
be incapable of acquiring title to or taking or holding any 
land or real estate in this State, by descent, devise, pur¬ 
chase, or otherwise, except that the heirs of aliens who 
have heretofore acquired lands in this State under the laws 
thereof, and the heirs of aliens who may acquire lands 
under the provisions of the act, may take such lands by 
devise or descent, and hold them for the space of three 
years and no longer, if such alien at the time of so acquir¬ 
ing such lands is of the age of twenty-one years, and if not 
twenty-one years of age, then for the term of five years 
from the time of so acquiring such lands. 

345. Alien Residents. —Corporations or associations in 
which more than twenty per cent, of the stock is owned by 
others than citizens of the United States, are prohibited 
from holding real estate in the State. But alien residents 


' THE LEGISLATURE AND CHRONICLES OF 1891. 209 


of the United States who have declared their intention to 
become citizens may acquire and hold real estate for six 
years, when it shall escheat to the State if they have not 
become full citizens. Minor alien residents of the United 
States may acquire and hold real estate for six years after 
they might have declared their intention of becoming citi¬ 
zens under the Naturalization laws, subject to escheat if 
they have not become full citizens in that time. 

346. Improvement of State Buildings.— Sixty thous¬ 
and dollars was appropriated to continue the construction 
of the main and central wings of the State House; the 
further sum of $60,000 for building and equipping a cottage 
and for other improvements at the Osawatomie Insane 
Asylum, and the sum of $9,000 for an industrial building 
at the Deaf and Dumb Institution at Olathe. 

347. Other Acts of the Session. —Changing the bounty 
on sugar manufactured in the State from beets, cane, or 
other plant grown«*in the State, to three-fourths of one 
cent a pound. Appropriating $3,500 to establish an experi¬ 
ment station at the State University to propagate the con¬ 
tagion or infection supposed to be destructive to chinch 
bugs, and to furnish it to farmers free of charge. Prohibit¬ 
ing combinations to prevent competition among persons 
engaged in buying and selling live stock. Accepting the 
provisions of an Act of Congress granting aid to State or 
Territorial homes for disabled soldiers and sailors. Accepting 
the Act of Congress granting aid for the endowment and 
support of colleges of agriculture and the mechanic arts. 

348. Discovery of Alfalfa. —One of the discoveries of 
agricultural Kansas for the year 1891, was that of alfalfa. 
In the spring of that year the Secretary of the State Board 


210 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


of Agriculture received such reports of its value, that he 
arranged a place for it in his statistical rolls, and the assess¬ 
ors were requested to give the acreage of alfalfa separate 
from other tame grasses. Since, it has occupied an enlarg¬ 
ing space in the agriculture especially of 
western Kansas. 

349. Samuel C. Pomeroy.— Samuel 
C. Pomeroy died at Whitinsville, Mass., 
August 27, 1891. He came to Lawrence 
with Dr. Robinson, and the “second’’ 
company, in 1854; was active in pro¬ 
moting Free State immigration to the 
Territory, and in the counsels of the 
Free State party. 

His first residence in Kansas was at Lawrence, but when 
the town site company of Atchison was reorganized on the 
basis of political toleration, he fixed his habitation there, 
was active, in the affairs of the young city, and in 1859 was 
its Mayor. In 1860, made memorable by the great drought, 
when the Legislature of New York appropriated $50,000 
for Kansas, and every Free State contributed generously in 
money and goods, Mr. Pomeroy was the principal distribut¬ 
ing agent of the aid. In 1861 he was elected, by the first 
Legislature of the State, United States Senator. In 1867, 
he was re-elected Senator on the first and only joint ballot. 
He was prominent and powerful in Kansas affairs. In 
1873 his political star set in darkness, and he was defeated 
for re-election to the Senate. He w r as a natiye of South¬ 
ampton, Mass., and was born January 3, 1816, and was 
seventy-five years old at the time of his death. 





THE LEGISLATURE AND CHRONICLES OF 1891. 211 


350. John A. Anderson, United States Consul. —In 

February, 1891, John A. Anderson, of Kansas, was con¬ 
firmed as United States Consul-General to Egypt. He was 
destined to never behold his native land again. He died 
at Liverpool, Eng., while returning to the United States 
on leave. He was a man of striking character and force 
of purpose, who made his mark as President of the State 
Agricultural College, and afterwards represented Kansas in 
Congress for five terms. 

351. Colonel N. S. Goss. — Colonel N. S. Goss fell 
dead of heart disease, at Neosho Falls, where he was visit¬ 
ing friends, on the 10th of March, 1891. He was an old 
resident of Kansas, a man of business 
and fortune, and an ornithologist of rare 
attainments, the passion of whose life 
was the study and collection of birds. 

In his pursuit he ranged from Labrador 
to Guatemala, and on his death left to 
the State the fine collection of birds, all 
mounted and arranged by himself, which 
is preserved in the State Capitol at 
Topeka, and is known as the “Goss 
Ornithological Collection. ’ ’ The last work of Colonel Goss’ 
life was the publication of the Birds of Kansas, a work of great 
value, embodying the labors and personal observations of 
years, and standing alone in the Kansas literature of its class. 

352. Relief for Russia. —The settlers from Russia, 
located in Ellis county, in view of the great famine pre¬ 
vailing in the districts of Russia from whence they came, 
sent $10,000 to the suffering, and an agent to bring a party 
of over 300 families of their countrypeople to Kansas. 



Colonel N. S. Goss. 




212 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


353. Demand for the Cherokee Strip. — The open¬ 
ing of the Cherokee Strip was demanded, and large meet¬ 
ings were held at Arkansas City, and at other points on the 
border. The excitement, however, did not approach the 
Oklahoma boom in its proportions. 

354. Rain Making. —The autumn of 1891 witnessed 
the appearance in Kansas of the “rain makers.’ 7 A party 
known as Melbourne, the rain maker, made arrangements 
with the authorities of the Sherman county fair to produce 
rain from the clouds, but unfortunately for the test, a heavy 
rain had commenced prior to the arrival of the rain maker, 
and continued to fall to the depth ofTnTiicli. ^ Later, a 
fine shower was produced, or claimed, through Mr. Mel¬ 
bourne’s efforts, and the Interstate Artificial Rain Com¬ 
pany, of Goodland, was organized. The rain maker 
appeared at other points, and in one case is said to have 
nearly precipitated a snow storm. Kansas, in the experi¬ 
mental season of 1891, was much interested in the art and 
mystery of rain making. 

355. General Joseph E. Johnston in Kansas.— Gen¬ 
eral Joseph E. Johnston, an eminent commander in the 
Confederate army, who died on the 26th of March, 1891, 
had much to do when, as an officer of the “old army,” 
he was stationed in Kansas Territory in the days of the 
“border troubles.” In common with the larger number of 
the regular army officers on duty in Kansas at that time, 
he won a reputation for humanity and fairness, obeying his 
oftentimes disagreeable orders with as much impartiality 
as possible. Nearly all of these officers who survived to the 
Civil War rose to high command in the Union and Con¬ 
federate armies. 


THE LEGISLATURE AND CHRONICLES OF 1891. 


213 


356. General Phillip St. George Cooke. —General 
Phillip St. George Cooke was for many years of his later 
life an honorary member of the Kansas State Historical 
Society. 

357. Death of Samuel N. Wood. —A profound senti¬ 
ment Wfts created throughout the State by the death at 
Hugo ton, on the 24th of June, 1891, by the hands of an 
assassin, of Samuel N. Wood, known from the beginning 
of the settlement of Kansas Territory as “Sam” Wood. 
Letters written by him to a Cincinnati paper were among 
the first, if not the very first, newspaper correspondence 
published from the disturbed Territory. He was engaged 
in the rescue of Branson, which was made the bxcuse for 
the “Wakarusa War.” So in all the contests of Kansas 
was he interested till the end. He was an Ohioan of a 
Quaker family, and he suggested the names of the counties 
of Marion, Chase and Morris, the first for his old “home 
county,” and the two others for dis¬ 
tinguished Ohioans. He was buried in 
Chase county, of which he was a 
pioneer settler and long resident. 

358. Preston B. Plumb. — Preston 
B. Plumb, United States Senator from 
Kansas, died after a brief sickness at 
Washington, D. C., December 20, 1891. 

He was born in Ohio, and in youth 
learned the printer’s trade, and read law 
in that State, and was publishing a newspaper at Xenia, when, 
in 1856, he was attracted to Kansas. He made a prelimi¬ 
nary visit to the Territory, then returned to Ohio, and 
came back to Kansas with a party of twenty-eight young 





214 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


men, of which, though but eighteen years old, he was 
chosen Captain. He sought work at his first trade, and 
rose to be foreman of the Herald of Freedom office at 
Lawrence, but in a short time determined to go # farther 
west in the Territory, and establish a town. After some 
trials the town started was Emporia, ever afterwards to be 
his home. Early in his town building labors, he was 
called away by the war, joined the Eleventh Kansas regi¬ 
ment, and rose to be its Lieu tenant-Colonel. After the war 
was over he went back to the Neosho valley, and his multi¬ 
farious and endless labors, as lawyer, man of affairs, pro¬ 
moter, occasional legislator, and builder of the new country. 
He was widely known in Kansas, though not as an office 
holder, when in 1877 he was elected to the United States 
Senate, to which he was re-elected in 1883 and 1889. In 
the Senate he was, as everywhere else, a man of action; 
working constantly and powerfully to perform eVery task 
committed to his hands. 

He was blessed by Nature with a strong and vigorous 
frame, and conscious of his strength, he knew no rest. In 
Washington and at home, he was constantly at work. At 
last the end came from overwork. He died in the fifty- 
fourth year of his age, and in full maturity of his powers. 
His death was regarded as a great loss to Kansas. There 
were many people he had helped, and who depended upon 
him. His death was received with every outward demon¬ 
stration of respect. The Capitol at Topeka was draped in 
mourning, while the remains of the dead Senator lay in 
state in the Senate chamber, and the burial at Emporia was 
attended by many thousands. 


THE LEGISLATURE AND CHRONICLES OF 1891. 


215 


The vacancy in the United States Senate occasioned by 
the death of Senator Plumb was filled on the 1st of January, 
1892, by the appointment by Governor Humphrey of Hon. 
Bishop W. Perkins, making the third time in the history of 
the.State when this office had been filled by appointment of 
the Governor. Mr. Perkins had served three years in Army 
of the Union, in line and staff positions; and in Kansas on 
the judicial bench and in the lower House of Congress. 

In November, 1896, the bronze bust of Senator Preston 
B. Plumb was installed in the Governor’s room in the Capitol 
at Topeka, the gift of his widow. 


SUMMARY. 


1. William A. Peffer succeeds John J. Ingalls as United States 

Senator. 

2. Among the important Acts of the Legislature were those pro 

viding for the encouragement of irrigation; for an eight- 
hour working day; creating the office of bank commissioner; 
in regard to land ownership by aliens. 

3. Alfalfa recognized as an important Kansas product. 

4. Colonel N. S. Goss died at Neosho Falls, March 10, 1891. 

5. Former citizens of Russia in Kansas send relief to the famine 

sufferers in that empire. 

6. Rain makers experiment with the heavens above Kansas. 

7. Deaths of Samuel C. Pomeroy, Colonel N. S. Goss, John A. 

Anderson, Senator Plumb and S. N. Wood recorded. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


ANNALS OF 1892. 

359. Political Revolution Complete.— The year 1892 
was the year of a Presidential election, a political year, and 
business was affected in Kansas, as in all the rest of the 
country. In Kansas the political revo¬ 
lution was made complete. The entire 
People’s Party State ticket was elected 
as follows: Governor, Lorenzo D. 
Lewelling; Lieutenant-Governor, Percy 
Daniels; Secretary of State, R. S. 
Osborn; Auditor, Van Buren Prather; 
Treasurer, W. H. Biddle; Attorney- 
General, J. T. Little; Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, Henry N. Gaines; 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, S. H. Allen; 
Congressman-at-Large, William A. Harris. 

Kansas cast her ten electoral votes for James B. Weaver, 
of Iowa, for President, and James G. Fields, of Virginia, 
for Vice-President. The other States casting electoral 
votes with Kansas were Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and North 
Dakota, twenty-two votes in all 

The eight Congressmen to which Kansas became entitled 
under the census of 1890, and first elected in 1892, were 
William A. Harris', Congressman-at-Large; Case Broderick, 
First District; E. H. Funston, Second District; T. J. 

210 * 








ANNALS OF 1892. 


217 


Hudson, Third District; Charles Curtis, Fourth District; 
John Davis, Fifth District; William Baker, Sixth District; 
Jerry Simpson, Seventh District. The Congressional 
delegation stood five People's Party members and three 
Republicans. 

360. Cyclone at Harper and Wellington.— On the 

27th of May, 1892, the towns of Harper and Welling¬ 
ton were visited by a tornado, and ten persons killed, a 
large number wounded, and a vast amount of property 
destroyed. The storm was among the most destructive 
of the many which have visited the State, and excited 
special horror from the fact that the fatal bolt was sped 
after nightfall; at Wellington, within a few minutes of 
nine o’clock. 

361. Science and the Cyclone.— What has been 
called the “Kansas cyclone” is not peculiar to Kansas, but 
has been known in all parts of the United States; more 
especially in the great area between the Alleghany and 
Rocky Mountains. 

The science of meteorology, long as man has watched the 
skies, is among the younger sciences. In the brief period 
that meteorogical observations have been made in Kansas, 
the phenomena of the “whirling storm,” as it has been 
called, has been very carefully noted. It has been observed 
that these calamitous visitations accompany the transition 
from the temperature of winter to spring, beginning in the 
southern States and advancing northward with the spring, 
several of the most notable in Kansas having arrived in 
May. The period of cyclones, or tornadoes (as they have 
been called both), is from noon to sunset; and while they 
are not unknown after darkness has fallen, they may be 


218 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


called uncommon. The course of the storm is, in a vast 
majority of cases, from southwest to northeast, and the 
appearances accompanying it always the same. The hours 
of murky lowering in the distant sky; the heavy air; the 
sudden falling of the barometer; the cellar-like chill; and 
then the apparition of the enormous funnel-shaped cloud, 
moving in its zigzag course, thrusting down its wavering 
trunk like that of an elephant to the earth, its huge, black 
bulk mounting to the clouds, and boiling and whirling 
within itself; drawing to its blackness the lightest and 
heaviest of objects; not only overthrowing human habita¬ 
tions, but grinding and breaking them to fragments. All 
these visible terrors attend the storm. Its track is narrow, 
its passage swift. It is here, and, with a frightful roar, it 
has gone, followed after by a deluge of rain. Often in its 
track, as if deflected by some heavy object, it bounds into 
the air, striking the earth again after a considerable inter¬ 
val, until at last it rises in the viewless and trackless 
atmosphere, and is lost in the “abyss of heaven.” 

It is believed and hoped that, while these dread visitants 
will continue to come unbidden, they will not always come 
unheralded, and that the advance of science will enable men 
to foretell and, even at long distance, hear and see the 
approach of this “power of the air.” 

362. Death of Mrs. Lucy B. Armstrong. —Kansas, 
on the 1st of January, lost one of its oldest -inhabitants. 
Mrs. Lucy B. Armstrong died in Kansas City, Kan. She 
was the widow of John M. Armstrong, Government inter¬ 
preter to the Wyandottes. She came to Kansas, then the 
Indian Territory, in 1843. Her father was the Rev. Russell 
Bigelow, first presiding elder of the Methodist church in 


ANNALS OF 1892. 


219 


Kansas. She saw, till for her the curtain fell, the whole 
splendid drama'of civilization in Kansas. 

363. Conflict in Seward County .—The troubles in 
Seward county, in the early part of 1892, were connected 
with the former disturbances in Stevens County. The 
Seward county distresses included the savage murder of 
the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff; the dispatching of a body 
of State troops to protect the Judge of the district and 
enforce law and order. This was among the last of these 
needed armed interferences by the State. It is hoped the 
spread of civilization will make it the last. 

364. Coal Production of 1892. —It was noted that 
the production of coal in Kansas, in 1892, was the largest 
in the history of the State, 68,843,114 bushels, of which 
Crawford county mined 23,000,000 bushels. This increas¬ 
ing production, however, had marked every year prior to 
1892, beginning in 1880, and has every year since, with the 
exception of two years. In 1897 the Kansas coal mines 
yielded, according to the estimates of the United States 
Geological Survey, 3,672,195 tons. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The entire People’s Party ticket was elected. 

2. Lorenzo D. Lewelling was elected Governor. Kansas cast her 

electoral vote for Janies B. Weaver. 

3. A very destructive cyclone visited Harper and Wellington 

May 27, 1892. 

4. A severe county seat conflict occurred in Seward county. The 

militia were called out. 

5. The coal production of 1892 was 68,843,114 bushels. 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 


LEGISLATION AND OTHER EVENTS OF 1893. 

365. Inauguration of the Executive. — Governor 
Lewelling was inaugurated on the 9th of January, 1893. 

366. Organization of the Senate.— On the 10th the 
Legislature assembled, w r hich was destined to a stormy, and, 
at times, anxious existence. 

The Senate was organized under the presidency of the 
Lieutenant-Governor, Honorable Percy Daniels, at twelve 
o’clock, noon, the hour fixed .by law. 

367. House Failed to Organize. —The members of the 
House of Representatives assembled in their hall, when 
Honorable R. S. Osborn, Secretary of State, appeared, and 
stated that he did not wish to deliver the roll of members 
certified as elected by the State Board of Canvassers, in the 
absence of a presiding officer. A motion that the Secretary 
of State preside temporarily was objected to, and he 
departed, taking the roll with him. Both parties then pro¬ 
ceeded to organize the House, the Republicans electing 
Honorable Geo. L. Douglas, Speaker, and the Populists, 
Honorable J. M. Dunsmore. Both Speakers occupied the 
same desk, and during the first night slept under the same 
blanket on the floor in the rear of the Speaker’s desk, each 
one with a gavel in his hand. 

368. Dunsmore House Recognized.— On the third 
day of the session, Governor Lewelling recognized the 

220 


LEGISLATION AND OTHEK EVENTS OF 1893. 


221 


Dunsmore House as the legal body, and on the fourth day 
the Senate took the same action, the Republican Senators 
formally protesting. The two contending bodies continued 
to sit on different sides of Representative Hall for some 
days. In time an arrangement was made by which one 
body met in the forenoon and the other in the afternoon. 
Numerous attempts were made by various parties, one, 
among others, by the chairmen of the central committees 
of the three parties, Republican, Pofmlist, and Democratic, 
to effect a settlement, but in vain. 

369. Governor’s Message.— On the 17th of January 
Governor Lewelling sent in his message to the Senate, where 
it was read, and to the Dunsmore House, which ordered it 
printed. 

370. Arrest of L. C. Gunn.— The arrest of L. C. Gunn 
by a sergeant-at-arms of the Douglas House, on a warrant 
signed by the Speaker and Clerk of that House, on a charge 
of neglecting to obey a mandate of that body, brought an 
issue before the Supreme Court. Mr. Gunn asked to be 
discharged, on the ground that the Douglas House was not 
the lawful and constitutional House of Representatives, and 
had no authority to order his arrest. 

371. Contest for the Hall. —While this case was pend¬ 
ing, stirring events were destined to occur. On the 14th of 
February an attempt was made by tw^o deputy sergeants- 
at-arms of the Douglas House to arrest Ben C. Rich, Chief 
Clerk of the Dunsmore House, on a charge of “contempt .’ 7 
After a sharp scuffle, Mr. Rich was rescued by his friends, 
and soon after appeared in triumph in the Dunsmore House. 
Governor Lewelling directed the Adjutant-General to call 
out a company of militia if necessary. On the night of the 


222 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


14th, the officers of the Dunsmore House barricaded the 
door of the Hall of Representatives. On the morning of 
the 15th, the Douglas House, headed by their Speaker, 
appeared, thrust aside the outer guards, smashed in the 
door with a sledge hammer, and entered and took possession. 

372. The Douglas House Besieged.— Governor Lewel- 
ling called out several companies of State militia, guns were 
brought out of the State arsenal; a Gatling gun and 
artillerists were ordered from Wichita. On the other side, 
Sheriff Wilkinson, of Shawnee county, who had declined a 
summons from both Speaker Dunsmore and the Governor, 
announced himself as the regular custodian of the peace of 
the county, marched a force of deputies into the State 
House, and joined the large force of sergeants-at-arms of 
the Douglas House. The Douglas House was, in a sense, 
beleaguered, but was supplied with provisions passed through 
the lines. 

373. Colonel Hughes Refuses to Obey.— Colonel J. 
W. F. Hughes, who had been ordered by the Governor to 
take charge of the troops and clear out of the State House 
all unauthorized persons, appeared in the midst of the 
besieged Douglas House and said he should do nothing of 
the sort, and was afterwards courtmartialed. 

374. Close of the Contest. —The'siege was not destined 
to last long. On the 16th Governor Lewelling appeared, 
and requested that the force occupying the Hall of Repre¬ 
sentatives turn it over to him for the night. This was 
refused. A committee of citizens of Topeka besought the 
Douglas House to yield, and avoid a bloody contest with the 
militia. This proposition was received with indifference. 
Negotiations finally resulted in an agreement, on the 17th, 


LEGISLATION AND OTHER EVENTS OF 1893. 223 


that the Douglas House should continue to hold the hall; 
that the Dunsmore House should meet elsewhere; that the 
deputies and the militia should retire, and that the. proceed¬ 
ings against Chief Clerk Rich should he abandoned. This 
ended what has been called the “Legislative War 77 of 1893, 
in which, happily, no lives were lost, but which it is 
earnestly hoped will never be repeated. 

375. Decision of the Supreme Court. —On the 25th 
was rendered the decision of the Supreme Court in the Gunn 
case, Chief Justice Horton affirming the constitutionality 
of the Douglas House, in which view Associate Justice 
Johnston concurred, and from which Associate Justice 
Allen dissented. 

376. House Organized. —On the 28th of February, the 
late Dunsmore House appeared, headed by their sergeant - 
at-arms, carrying the American flag, and spread upon the 
record their formal protest. The two Houses then became 
the one House of Representatives of the State of Kansas. 

An eye-witness remarks of the appearance of Topeka dur- • 
ing the “Legislative War 77 : ‘ ‘No other capital city on earth 
could have passed through such a scene of conflict without 
serious loss of life, and, it is also likely, great destruction of 
property. The absence of the saloon is the chief explanation. 7 7 

377. John Martin Elected U. S. Senator.— On Janu¬ 
ary 25th, in the midst of the disturbances, the Senate and 
House met in joint session, presided over by Lieutenant- 
Governor Daniels, and John Martin received eighty-six 
votes, and was declared elected United States Senator. 
The Republican members held a joint session, and gave 
Joseph W. Ady seventy-seven votes. E. H. Snow was 
re-elected State Printer. 


226 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


383. Kansas at the World’s Fair.— The first steps for 
the proper representation of Kansas at the World 7 s Colum¬ 
bian Exposition at Chicago were taken at a delegate conven¬ 
tion, called by the State Board of Agriculture, at Topeka, 
on the 23rd and 24th of April, 1891. Under the direction of 
a Bureau of Promotion, appointed by the convention, and 
later by a permanent Board of Managers, extensive collec¬ 
tions were made and a building erected, which was formally 
dedicated on the 22d of October, 1892. At noon of that 
day, the Kansas Building stood, the first completed and 
dedicated State building on the Exposition grounds. 

The Legislature of 1893 passed an act in aid of the 
Kansas Exposition, appropriating $65,000, and the work 
was turned over to the Board of Managers of the Kansas 
exhibit, representing the State. 

384. The Kansas Building.— The Kansas State Build-. 
ing was formally opened to the public by the festivities of 
“Kansas Week, 77 extending from the 11th to the 16th of 
September, 1893. The address of welcome was delivered by 
Hon. M. W. Cobun, President of the Board of Managers, 
and the response by Governor L. D. Lewelling. Every day 
of the “Week 77 a new programme was presented, and there 
was a profusion of original Kansas poetry and music. 

The building had an eligible location near the Fifty- 
Seventh street entrance, and in the vicinity of the State 
buildings of Arkansas and Utah, and of “Mount Vernon, 77 
a reduced copy of the home of Washington, presented by the 
State of Virginia. 

The ornamentation of the Kansas pavilion, which was 
profuse and effective, was remarkable for the use made of 
the “kindly fruits of the earth. 77 The structure might 


LEGISLATION AND OTHER EVENTS OF 1893. 


227 


have served in the old time as the temple of the goddess 
Ceres. Corn, wheat, oats, all the grasses, and the seeds 
thereof, made np innumerable designs, and in every possible 
gradation of color. The word “Kansas’ 7 shone everywhere 
wreathed in roses, and shaped of bold sunflowers, and amid 
the vegetation of Kansas peered the prairie dogs and jack 
rabbits, the admiration of the children. 

385. Collection of Professor Dyche.— In the annex 
to the main building was displayed the great collection of 
Professor Dyche, of the State University, comprising 121 
specimens of North American mammals, occupying an arti¬ 
ficial landscape of rock and ravine, mountains and prairie 
and swamp, extending apparently into the indefinite dis¬ 
tance. Prominent, of course, was the mighty buffalo, 
once lord of the Kansas plain. The bison was presented 
as in life and death; standing in defiance, and overcome by 
a gang of snarling wolves. Standing near the former 
rangers of the plains and mountains, was the horse, 
“Comanche, 77 who, pierced with many wounds, survived 
Custer’s fight at the Little Big Horn, and passed his last 
years in honorable ease at Fort Riley, and after his death, 
which occurred in his thirty-first year, was mounted in the 
taxidermic laboratory of the Kansas State University, with the 
understanding that he might be shown at the World’s Fair. 

386. Railroad Exhibit. —The great Kansas railroads 
were extensive exhibitors, as well as advertisers, presenting 
in the way of pictures and specimens the agricultural, 
mineral and manufacturing resources of the country along 
their lines. 

387. Woman’s Department.— The “Woman’s Depart¬ 
ment” had a “room” allotted to it in the Kansas Building, 


228 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


but woman 7 s taste, skill and industry were in evidence in 
all of the rooms. There was a great art exhibition, covering 
all work that may come under the classes of “art, 77 an 
interesting show of relics and souvenirs, and in all, the 
pioneer woman, the “first woman, 77 who builded with the 
others in . laying the foundations of the State, looked 
from the canvas, and was represented by the work of her 
toiling hands. 

388. Educational Exhibit.— The educational exhibit 
of Kansas was extensive, representing an expenditure of 
$12,000. The Kansas schools of all grades, from the 
common schools to the great State institutions, made a 
remarkable showing in the immense exhibition, which in 
the Liberal Arts Building alone covered four acres of wall 
and floor space. It seemed that everything that brain and 
hand may accomplish in the schoolroom was exhibited. 

389. Agricultural Exhibit. —Rugged utility was not 
overlooked. The main agricultural exhibition was made in 
a special pavilion in the Agricultural Building, near the 
great displays of North Dakota and California. A remark¬ 
ably ornate style of wall decoration was employed, but of 
such a nature as to display in perfection the agricultural 
resources of the State. Everything, even the twenty 
windows of the pavilion, set forth the work of the Kansas 
farmer. Part of the exhibition was made by the Kansas 
State Agricultural College, which came out strong, among 
other things, in a great display of onions. The exhibit 
and decorations were made from the crop of 1892, but as 
the season advanced it was renewed from the crop of 1893, 
giving it an appearance of perennial freshness. 


LEGISLATION AND OTHER EVENTS OF 1893. 


229 


390. Horticultural Exhibit.— The horticultural exhi¬ 
bition was divided into two displays, one in the Kansas 
Building, and the other in the Horticultural Building, and 
in spite of an unfavorable season, a fine showing was made. 

391. Live Stock Exhibit. —The live stock exhibit of 
Kansas, under the rules of the Columbian Exposition, was 
made a part of the general exhibition, and competed with 
the world, and under these circumstances received forty 
medals, premiums and ribbons. 

392. Dairy and Forest.— The dairying exhibit was 
limited to 104 exhibits, which received twenty-four diplo¬ 
mas. A small exhibit did not interfere with the general 
excellence. The forestry exhibition was confined prin¬ 
cipally to one walnut log from Leavenworth county, but it 
was the largest walnut log at Jackson Park, was forty years 
old when Columbus discovered America, and was believed 
to be the largest walnut log in America. 

393. Mining* Exhibit. —The mining exhibit was one of 
the earliest upon which work was begun, and was very 
complete in everything except coal, which was interfered 
with at a critical time by a strike in the coal mines. An 
unexpectedly fine showing was made of lead and zinc. 
Rock salt was present in beauty and plenty, and visitors 
took away specimens, with the information that Kansas 
had salt enough to supply the world for 1,000,000 years. 
There was an instructive exhibition of Kansas building 
stone, scientifically presented. 

394. Visitors to Kansas Building*. —Kansas at the 
World’s Fair presented a great attraction. Five large 
books were filled with the names of visitors, and thousands 


230 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


were unable to register for want of time. The Kansas 
Building was visited by from 10,000 to 12,000 persons 
daily, at first, and during the last two months of the Fair, 
the attendance reached from 18,000 to 20,000 every day. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Governor Lewelling was inaugurated January 9, 1893. 

2. Senate organized on January 10. 

3. The Republicans organized the Douglas House, the Populists, 

the Dunsmore House. 

4. Governor Lewelling recognized the Dunsmore House, the 

Douglas House protesting. 

5. After days of excitement and separate meetings, both houses 

were united on February 28. 

6. John Martin was elected United States Senator. 

7. The Spooner library erected at Kansas University. 

8. Colonel Samuel Walker died at Lawrence, February 6, 1893. 

9. Kansas State Building at the World’s Fair dedicated Octo¬ 

ber 22d. 

10. Kansas made fine exhibits in every department. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


PASSING OF THE PIONEERS. 

395. Death of Two Early Governors.— In the year 
1894 Kansas parted with two faithful friends, early guides 
and advisers who had both held the helm of the ship of 
State in the early and earliest part of the voyage. Governor 
Charles Robinson and Governor James M. Harvey. 

396. James M. Harvey. —The end came first to Gov¬ 
ernor Harvey, who died at midnight on the 15th of April, 
1894, near Junction City, Kan. He was born in Monroe 
county, Va., but removed with his father’s family to Adams 
county, Ill., and thence to Kansas. He had been but two 
years in Kansas when the Civil War came, and he entered 
the service with Company “G,” Tenth Kansas Volunteer 
Infantry, a regiment which furnished eventually a remark¬ 
able number of prominent men to the civil and official service 
of the State and nation. Captain Harvey displayed in the 
ranks of the Tenth the steady, patient valor which was 
native to him, and almost immediately on his return to his 
home in 1865, he was elected to the Kansas House of Rep¬ 
resentatives, and again in 1866. In 1867 and 1868 he was 
elected to the State Senate, and in 1868 was elected Gov¬ 
ernor of Kansas and re-elected in 1870. In 1874 he was 
chosen to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate, occa¬ 
sioned by the resignation of Alexander Caldwell, and he 
remained in the Senate until March 4, 1877. With this 

231 


232 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


brilliant experience of official life he might have been 
encouraged to press on, but, instead, he retired absolutely 
to private life. He had early in life added to the calling of 
farmer that of land surveyor, and his later years were 
devoted to the hard and toilsome occupation of a Govern¬ 
ment surveyor in New Mexico and the West. Admonished 
by failing health of the necessity of living, if he would 
live, in a milder climate, he sought tide-water Virginia, and 
remained in the neighborhood of Norfolk for some years, but 
moved by that irresistible impulse which often comes to men 
at last, to seek their home, he returned to Kansas, and near 
the familiar acres he had redeemed from the wilderness, he 
closed his honorable and useful life. 

397. Charles Robinson. —The death of Charles Robin¬ 
son, first Governor of Kansas, occurred on August 17,1894. 
Governor Robinson was born in Hardwick, Mass., July 21, 
1818. He came of that New England 
generation with w'hom life is a serious 
and strenuous business, and, above all, 
an exploration, if not of actual voyaging 
to distant and unknown foreign parts, 
then of independent excursions into all 
the bays and inlets of thought and con¬ 
viction. He commenced life as a physi¬ 
cian, taught in the learning of the old 
schools, but as a practitioner venturing 
into such paths as seemed to lead somewhere, to the grief 
of his regular brethren. But he was destined to travels and 
adventures. He went “overland 77 to California, crossing 
the to-be site of Lawrence, and soon took sides in a fight 
for “squatters 7 rights, 77 which involved for him and his 



Governor Charles Robinson. 




PASSING OF THE PIONEEKS. 


233 


friends some actual fighting, followed by imprisonment. He 
was accustomed to say, in later days, that he had been 
indicted in California for murder, assault with intent to kill, 
and conspiracy, and for treason in KaifSas, but had not been 
tried on any of the charges. He was, after the period of 
combat was over, elected a member of the Legislature of 
California from* the Sacramento District. He was a sup¬ 
porter of John C. Fremont, for United States Senator, and 
an upbuilder of the Free State of California. In 1851 he 
had an adventurous voyage to the States, involving ship¬ 
wreck, and, as on the Missouri river years afterward, an 
encounter with the cholera among his fellow voyagers, which 
he met with skill and courage. On this voyage the steamer 
touched at Havana and he saw the tragic end of the Lopez 
filibusters. He got back to Massachusetts in safety and 
settled down to the practice of medicine, when, in 1854, he 
became interested in the Kansas question, which that year 
became a burning question. 

Dr. Robinson, as he was then, and for a long time after, 
called, entered into the work of the New England Emigrant 
Aid Society, and he led the second party of emigrants—the 
first, it is said, who came to stay—to the Lawrence town- 
site. Thenceforward he was a part of everything that went 
on in Kansas Territory. He was a great believer in the 
power of reason, in the virtue of the New England practice 
of “talking it over, 77 nevertheless, he “dwelt in the midst 
of alarms, 77 his house was burned, his property destroyed, 
and he was himself arrested and held for months a prisoner 
on the charge of treason. He was an advocate early and 
late, of the Topeka Government, was chosen Governor under 
it, and stood by it until the safety of the Territory as a 


232 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


brilliant experience of official life he might have been 
encouraged to press on, but, instead, he retired absolutely 
to private life. He had early in life added to the calling of 
farmer that of land surveyor, and his later years were 
devoted to the hard and toilsome occupation of a Govern¬ 
ment surveyor in New Mexico and the West. Admonished 
by failing health of the necessity of living, if he would 
live, in a milder climate, he sought tide-water Virginia, and 
remained in the neighborhood of Norfolk for some years, but 
moved by that irresistible impulse which often comes to men 
at last, to seek their home, he returned to Kansas, and near 
the familiar acres he had redeemed from the wilderness, he 
closed his honorable and useful life. 

397. Charles Robinson. —The death of Charles Robin¬ 
son, first Governor of Kansas, occurred on August 17,1894. 
Governor Robinson was born in Hardwick, Mass., July 21, 
1818. He came of that New England 
generation with whom life is a serious 
and strenuous business, and, above all, 
an exploration, if not of actual voyaging 
to distant and unknown foreign parts, 
then of independent excursions into all 
the bays and inlets of thought and con¬ 
viction. He commenced life as a physi¬ 
cian, taught in the learning of the old 
schools, but as a practitioner venturing 
into such paths as seemed to lead somewhere, to the grief 
of his regular brethren. But he was destined to travels and 
adventures. He went “overland’ 5 to California, crossing 
the to-be site of Lawrence, and soon took sides in a fight 
for “squatters’ rights,” which involved for him and his 



Governor Charles Robinson. 




233 


PASSING OF THE PIONEERS. 

friends some actual fighting, followed by imprisonment. He 
was accustomed to say, in later days, that he had been 
indicted in California for murder, assault with intent to kill, 
and conspiracy, and for treason in KaifSas, but had not been 
tried on any of the charges. He was, after the period of 
combat was over, elected a member of the Legislature of 
California from* the Sacramento District. He was a sup¬ 
porter of John C. Fremont, for United States Senator, and 
an upbuilder of the Free State of California. In 1851 he 
had an adventurous voyage to the States, involving ship¬ 
wreck, and, as on the Missouri river years afterward, an 
encounter with the cholera among his fellow voyagers, which 
he met with skill and courage. On this voyage the steamer 
touched at Havana and he saw the tragic end of the Lopez 
filibusters. He got back to Massachusetts in safety and 
settled down to the practice of medicine, when, in 1854, he 
became interested in the Kansas question, which that year 
became a burning question. 

Dr. Robinson, as he was then, and for a long time after, 
called, entered into the work of the New England Emigrant 
Aid Society, and he led the second party of emigrants—the 
first, it is said, who came to stay—to the Lawrence town- 
site. Thenceforward he was a part of everything that went 
on in Kansas Territory. He was a great believer in the 
power of reason, in the virtue of the New England practice 
of “talking it over/’ nevertheless, he “dwelt in the midst 
of alarms,’ 7 his house was burned, his property destroyed, 
and he was himself arrested and held for months a prisoner 
on the charge of treason. He was an advocate early and 
late, of the Topeka Government, was chosen Governor under 
it, and stood by it until the safety of the Territory as a 


234 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 



Mrs. Sara T. L. Robinson. 


future Free State was assured. Under the Wyandotte Con¬ 
stitution he became the first State Governor of free Kansas. 
In 1851 Dr. Robinson had married Miss Sara T. L. Lawrence, 
who accompanied him to Kansas, shared all the perils of 

M the time and hour, and became their very 
clear and interesting historian. 

On becoming Governor of Kansas, 
after so many perils past, he found him¬ 
self the head of the State in the midst 
of a war for its life. He may be said to 
have armed and equipped the State, and 
sent it to battle. 

After his service as Governor, the name 
of Charles Robinson continued as promi¬ 
nent as before in the State. He was always called on to fill 
trusts, execute commissions, assume responsibilities. He 
was sent to the Legislature when there was work to do. 
One of the trusts he executed with great kindness and 
fidelity, was the superintendency of the Haskell Institute, 
the Indian school at Lawrence, and there were many other 
labors. 

He was the steadfast friend of the Kansas State Univer¬ 
sity; he gave the original site; his gifts amounted, it was 
estimated, to $150,000; and he made the University his final 
heir after his wife, who survives him. The Legislature 
appropriated $1,000 to secure his marble bust for the 
University. 

In his later years Governor Robinson resided on a fine 
farm three miles north of Lawrence, dwelling ip the shade 
of noble trees which he planted with his own hands. Here 
he dispensed a grateful hospitality. He was buried at Oak 


PASSING OF THE PIONEERS. 


235 


Hill Cemetery, on a slope which faces the town which he 
saw rise in the prairie grass, and pass through the vicissi¬ 
tudes of siege, and burning, and carnage, to well-ordered 
peace, and a prosperous destiny at last. 

398. State Election of 1894.— In 
the Republicans succeeded in turning 
had so strongly set against them in 
prior years, and elected Edmund N. 

Morrill, Governor; James A. Troutman, 
Lieutenant-Governor; George E. Cole; 

Auditor; Otis L. Atherton, Treasurer; 

F. B. Dawes, Attorney-General; Edwin 
Stanley, Superintendent of Public 
Instruction; W. A. Johnston, Asso¬ 
ciate Justice; Richard W. Blue, Con¬ 
gressman- at- Large. 

399. Members of Congress. — At this election, 
Kansas, for the second time, elected eight members of 
Congress. The members chosen were: First District, 
Case Broderick; Second, O. L. Miller; Third, S. S. Kirk¬ 
patrick; Fourth, Chas. Curtis; Fifth, W. A. Calderhead; 
Sixth, Wm. Baker; Seventh, Chester I. Long; At-Large, 
R. W. Blue. 

400. Suffrage Amendment Defeated.— The constitu¬ 
tional amendment, conferring on women the full exercise 
of suffrage, was defeated, the vote standing 95,300 votes 
for, to 130,139 votes against. 

401. Death of Bishop W. Perkins. — Bishop W. 
Perkins died, at his home in Washington, on the 20th of 
June, 1894. He had been for years a prominent figure at 
the bar, on the bench, and in the forum. He represented 


November, 1894, 
the tide which 



Governor E. N. Morrill. 




236 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Kansas for several terms in the House of Representatives, 
and, on the death of Senator Plumb, he was appointed by 
Governor Humphrey his temporary successor. 

402. State Normal School.— On the 14th of June, 
the State Normal School held its thirtieth annual com¬ 
mencement exercises, and conferred its diplomas on a class 
of 100 graduates. The history of the State Normal School 
is a counterpart of that of the State. It was founded in 
1863, in the crisis of the Civil War, but first opened its 
doors in 1865, with thirteen students. From that time 
forward it advanced, like the State, “through difficulties/’ 
among them fire, which, in 1878, destroyed its building. 
From the lowest point in its fortunes, which was reached 
in the year of the fire, it has steadily risen, until the last 
ten years its attendance has ranged above 1,000 students, 
and the number of its annual graduates at 100 and upwards. 
Since 1882 the State Normal has been under the guidance 
of President A. R. Taylor. 

On the 26th of June Haskell Institute, at Lawrence, 
turned out a class of nine native Americans. Eight 
different Indian tribes were represented among the gradu¬ 
ates. 

403. Death of Early Settlers.— In 1894 the early 
settlers and founders of the State of Kansas were admon¬ 
ished of the flight of time, by the departure from the scene 
of life of many of their associates; among the dead of the 
year were numbered: 

Isaac T. Goodnow, one of the founders of Manhattan, 
third State Superintendent of Public Instruction, from 
1863 to 1867, and a man distinguished for his services to 
the educational interests of the State. 


PASSING OF THE PIONEERS. 


237 


T. Dwight Thacher, long eminent in connection with the 
journalism of Lawrence and of Kansas; a leader in the 
ranks of thought, scholarship and literature. 

Judge Joel K. Goodin, of Ottawa, the first Justice of 
the Peace in the Territory, appointed by Governor Reeder 
in 1855, and active in all the early history. 

404. Coxey Army. —There was much unrest among the 
laboring classes during the year. Strikes were reported, 
especially among the coal miners and railroad men. 
Another evidence of the popular discontent was the march¬ 
ing of the “Coxey Army.” The appearance of the detach¬ 
ment called “General Sanders’ ” army, which camped at 
Topeka in May, was involuntary. The men were brought 
in from the West charged with having captured a railroad 
train. The party remained several days in Topeka, and 
were held by the United States Commissioner to appear for 
trial before the United States Court at Leavenworth. 
Their cause and condition elicited many expressions of 
sympathy. 

405. Valuable Fossil Found.— Collectors of fossil 
remains in Kansas have for years enriched museums with 
valuable specimens. It was announced in 1894 that 
Mr. Charles H. Sternberg, of Lawrence, had made a very 
valuable find in the northeast part of Lane county, a bed 
of fossils containing nearly the entire skeleton of the hairy 
mammoth, similar to that found in Siberia, and preserved 
in St. Petersburg, a cast of which was exhibited at the 
World’s Fair. Over 150 elephants’ teeth formed part of 
Mr. Sternberg’s discovery. 

406. Oil and Gas Discovery. —The greatest discovery 
and development in Kansas, in 1894, was in the oil and gas 


238 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


field. In January, nineteen flowing wells were reported in 
Wilson county. A Pennsylvania company, exploring in 
that region, stated that of twenty-one wells they had bored, 
but two were valueless. By May the Neodesha wells were 
said to be equal to those of Lima, Ohio. Oil and gas were 
struck at Sedan, Thayer, Cherry vale and other places, but 
the Neodesha field remained the most important. 

407. Apple Orchards in Kansas. —In 1894 one bear¬ 
ing apple tree was reported in Wichita county, and one in 
Greeley county, but in that year Judge Wellhouse, the 
Kansas orchardist, planted a new orchard of 25,000 apple 
trees on 270 acre's. He is the owner of 1,700 acres in orchards, 
and is believed to be the largest apple grower in the world. 

408. A Heavy Snow Storm. —A very heavy snow on 
the 12th of February, revived the recollections of the old¬ 
est inhabitants, and it was remembered that in the winter of 
1855-56 the country between the Missouri river and Fort 
Riley was covered with snow for nearly two months, and 
that for six weeks the United States mail from Independ¬ 
ence, Mo. ; to Fort Riley was carried in sleighs. 

409. Report of Commissioner Harris.— The report of 
Commissioner Harris, of the Bureau of Education, showed 
that Kansas had the greatest proportion of her school 
population enrolled in the schools of any State in the 
Union, the per cent being 87.66. The next States in order 
were Maine, 87.12; Iowa, 86.33; South Dakota, 81.04. 
The percentage of New York was 70.40. 

The large proportion of the attendance to the enrollment 
in the schools of Kansas shows the interest felt by the 
people of Kansas in education, and is not the result of 
compulsory laws. Kansas received its earlier and later 


PASSING OF THE PIONEERS. 


239 


settlers from the States in the Union in which a system of 
free public schools was earliest., established and has been 
most successfully maintained. The free, the common school, 
was in Kansas a heritage from the oldest and best educated 
communities of the United States. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Charles Robinson and Janies M. Harvey, two pioneer Gov¬ 

ernors of Kansas, died in 1894. 

2. Edmund N. Morrill was elected Governor. 

3. The amendment to the constitution giving women equal suffrage 

was defeated. 

4. Haskell Institute graduated nine Indians. 

5. The State Normal School granted 100 diplomas. 

6. Among the early settlers of the State who died in 1894 were 

Bishop Perkins, Isaac T. Goodnow, T. Dwight Thacher and 
Judge Joel K. Goodin. 

7. The year of ’94 was one of unrest and discontent among the 

laboring classes. 

8. Kansas has a larger proportion of her school population en¬ 

rolled than any other State in the Union. 


CHAPTER XXXV. 


THE STORY OF 1895-96. 

410. The Enforcement of Law. —Looking over a 
brief abstract and chronicle of Kansas affairs in 1895, it 
would appear that the subject of the prohibitory law and 
its enforcement remained a matter of first interest. In 
Emporia, a party, for selling liquor illegally, was sentenced 
to a fine of $500 and 150 days in jail. In Armourdale, 
citizens demanded the enforcement of the law. In Wyan¬ 
dotte county, the county Attorney ordered the joints to 
close. In Arkansas City, the joints, which is by common 
consent the Kansas name for places where liquor is sold, 
were temporarily closed by agreement. In Dodge City, the 
Mayor closed the joints. In Beloit, an offender against the 
liquor law was convicted after four trials. The Sheriff 
ordered a closing up in Wichita. In Topeka, six druggists’ 
permits were suspended. Wellington women knelt in whisky 
joints and prayed for prohibition. A district judge decided 
that the “so help me God” oath must be taken in all liquor 
sales. There are many variations. In one place a local 
liquor ordinance was declared unconstitutional. A jointist 
in Seneca was fined $300. Weir City broke the record 
by fining a fifteen-count violator of the law $1,500, with 
450 days in jail. There were long lists of individual convic¬ 
tions in many counties, but always discussions, and equally 
confident assertions, that the law is, and is not, a failure. 

240 


THE STORY OF 1895-96. 


241 


411. Case of John L. Waller .—As illustrating the 
vicissitudes of human fortune, was presented to public 
attention in Kansas the case of John L. Waller, born a 
slave in Missouri, becoming a citizen of Kansas, and the 
United States Consul to Madagascar. After serving his 
term, he remained in the island, received valuable grants 
from the native government, and on the overthrow of the 
Malagassy Government by the French, he was arrested, 
tried by court-martial, sent to France, and incarcerated in 
a fortress. Kansas interested herself for her former citi¬ 
zen; Mr. Waller’s picture appeared in the papers, with 
biographical sketches. Governor Morrill telegraphed the 
President in regard to Mr. Waller’s release. A petition 
was sent to Congress containing 6,743 names. The United 
States Ambassador at Paris was reached. John Waller 
was liberated, and returned to his couhtry to enter the 
Twenty-Third Colored Kansas Infantry Volunteers, and 
served as a captain in the regiment in Cuba. 

412. Weather Phenomena of 1895.— In 1895 there 
were given illustrations of the variability of the Kansas 
temperature. In January the mercury was sixteen degrees 
below zero; in February eighteen degrees; persons froze to 
death at Newton, New Basle and Chanute, and three Stanton 
county children perished. On the 9th of May the mercury 
was ninety-three degrees above zero; on the night of the 
12th of May there were hard frosts in many parts of Kansas. 

413. Old People. —Kansas began to speak of herself as 
an old country, and a country of old people. James White 
died at Ottawa, aged 108 years. Elder John Burney, who 
died at Abilene, left 147 descendants. Andrew Franklin, 
a veteran of three wars, died at Burlington, aged 104 years 


242 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The death was announced at San Marcos, Tex., of Israel 
B. Donalson, at the age of ninety-nine years. He was 
United States Marshal in Kansas in the “Border Troubles’ 7 
days. He was appointed from Illinois. The death is 
announced of Neodesha Fuller, the first white person born 
in Neodesha. It was an early Kansas custom to name the 
first babies after the town sites. Lawrence Carter and 
Topeka Zimmerman are remembered. 

414. Monument to Kansas Heroes. — On May 30, 
1895, Decoration Day, there was a monument dedicated in 
the cemetery at Topeka, to the memory of the men of the 
Second Kansas State militia, Shawnee county regiment, 
who fell in the battle of the Blue, in October, 1864. The 
remains of the brave militiamen were removed to Topeka 
in 1866, but the graves were but slightly marked, and the 
monument reared at this time was the gift of Mr. G. G. 
Gage, of Topeka, who served in the Second Regiment, and 
was taken prisoner at the Blue. 

The address at the dedication was delivered by General 
John C. Caldwell. General Joe Shelby, who commanded a 
Confederate division in the battle opposed to the Kansans, 
wrote a letter giving his recollections of the conflict. 

At Lawrence a monument was dedicated to the slain in 
the Quantrell raid. At Frankfort a monument to the Union 
soldiers buried there was unveiled. 

There was complaint of suffering and need in the western 
counties. The State shipped coal in quantities. The State 
Normal students contributed. Nortonville, Horton and 
other towns donated to the relief of the destitute, as did 
Shawnee and the eastern counties. The Railroad Commis¬ 
sioners purchased 10,000 bushels of corn for seed. 


THE STORY OF 1895-96. 


243 


415. Lawrence Loses Two Prominent Men. — Law¬ 
rence and the State lost two useful citizens in Judge Solon 
O. Thacher and Professor David H. Robinson. Judge 
Thacher had graced the bench and bar of the Territory and 
the State, and was President pro tem. of the Wyandotte 
Constitutional Convention, which formed the present Con¬ 
stitution, an instrument which bore the impress of his 
legal knowledge, and principles of justice to all men. 
Professor David H. Robinson was a member of the original 
faculty of the Kansas State University, and for thirty 
years was the Latin professor. A man of learning, honor 
and conscience. 

416. Election of 1895. —The Legislature of 1895 was 
Republican on joint ballot, and elected Lucien Baker, of 
Leavenworth, United States Senator, as the successor of 
John Martin in the “Lane line,’ 7 as distinguished from the 
“Pomeroy line” of senatorial succession. Joseph K. Hud¬ 
son was elected State Printer. 

417. Legislative Acts. — The Legislature did not 
indulge in novel or excessive measures. The principal 
acts were the establishment of appellate courts to relieve 
the pressure of business on the Supreme Court; the pro¬ 
viding for an irrigation commission consisting of the 
President of the State Agricultural College, the State Geo¬ 
logist, and three appointees; the making of an appropria¬ 
tion of $30,000 for experiments in irrigation, the State 
entering the business of irrigation in accordance with the 
Act of the Legislature. In June the State irrigation plant 
at Goodland was given a public trial. The thirteenth and 
last of the State plants was located at Dodge City on the 
3d of July. The season in which these plants were 


244 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


located was marked by heavy rains throughout the State, 
accompanied by washouts, and excessive thunder and light¬ 
ning. 

The Legislature abolished the office of State Veterinarian, 
but established the office of State Accountant. $3,000 
was appropriated to buy coal for destitute settlers in the 
western portion of the State. The Legislature failed to 
divide the State into eight Congressional districts; in other 
words, failed to make a Congressional apportionment. 

A concurrent resolution was adopted, asking that the 
statue of John Brown be placed, as representing Kansas, in 
the Statuary Hall of the Capitol, at Washington. 

418. Educational Interests.— The Kansas State Uni¬ 
versity graduated a class of 130. Washburn College cele¬ 
brated its thirtieth anniversary. The Wesleyan University, 
at Salina, secured the library of the late Colonel William 
A. Phillips. Fifty-seven graduates formed the class at the 
Agricultural College. 

419. Issues Before the People. —The year 1896 was 
devoted in Kansas, as in the other States of theUnion, to politi¬ 
cal discussion and action. The national conventions of the 
great political parties met, framed their platforms, and an¬ 
nounced their candidates. The questions before the people 
being largely financial; the “gold standard” as opposed to 
“free silver,” and “free trade” as against “protection,” 
there was endless opportunity for discussion. In Kansas, 
the canvass, one of the most thorough and earnest ever 
made in the history of the State, was conducted principally 
by “home talent.” 

420. Result of Election. —The political combinations 
during the summer resulted in the fusion of the Democratic 


THE STORY OF 1895-96. 


245 


and People’s parties, and Kansas cast her electoral vote for 
Bryan and Sewall, and the following Populist State and 
Congressional tickets were triumphant : 

John W. Leedy, Governor; A. M. Harvey, Lieutenant- 
Governor; W. E. Bush, Secretary of State; D. H. Heffle- 
bower, Treasurer; L. C. Boyle, Attor¬ 
ney-General; W. H. Morris, Auditor; 

Frank Doster, Chief Justice; William 
Stryker, Superintendent of Public In¬ 
struction; Congressman-at-Large, Rev. 

J. D. Botkin. 

The Congressmen elected were: First 
District, Case Broderick, and Fourth, 

Charles Curtis, Republicans; Second, 

Mason S. Peters; Third, E. R. Ridgely; 

Fifth, W. D. Vincent; Seventh, Jerry Simpson, Populists; 
Sixth, N. B. McCormick, Democratic. 

The Bryan electors received 171,810 votes; McKinley, 
159,541; Palmer, 1,209; Levering, 1,921; the vote for 
Governor stood, Leedy, Democrat-Populist, 168,041; Morrill, 
Republican, 160,530; Hurley, Prohibition, 2,347; Kepford, 
Independent-Prohibition, 703; Douthard, National Prohibi¬ 
tion, 752. 

421. Natural Gas at Iola. —In the matter of resources 
the chief development in Kansas was in the line of natural 
gas; the Iola gas field coming into line with the Neodesha 
oil field. Natural gas was first discovered at Iola in boring 
for coal to a great depth in 1871. Fifteen years later came 
the discovery of the gas fields of Indiana and Ohio, and the 
grand results which these States achieved in building up 
manufacturing centers, proved the incentive by which the 



Governor John W. Leedy. 






246 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


people of Iola were induced to make efforts to test the 
prospects shown in the “Acers well.” 

Near the end of 1895, the first great natural gas well was 
opened. The gas rushed upward with a roar as if a hun¬ 
dred locomotives were letting off steam at once. The gas 
territory has since developed over an area of some eighty 
square miles. Great flows have been struck at LaHarpe 
and Gas City. Twenty-nine wells have been drilled which 
furnish fuel for zinc smelters, many manufactories, and fuel 
and light for the city of Iola. 

When Thomas Watson, the middle-of-the-road Populist 
candidate for Vice-President, visited Iola in September, 1896, 
ten million cubic feet of gas were consumed in honor of the 
event. 

422. Severe Storms. —The State was visited by severe 
cyclones, costing several lives. The most fatal in their 
effect were those at Clifton in April, and Seneca in May. 
The month of May again seemed the month most subject to 
these storms. 

423. George T. Anthony. —George T. Anthony died at 
Topeka, on the night of August 5, 1896. He was born in 
Fulton county, N. Y., in 1824, belonging to a family famous 
in the history of political and social progress. He came 
to Kansas after the close of the Civil War, in which he 
served as a captain of artillery. It was in Kansas that he 
entered upon a public career. He is said to have made his 
first public speech after he w r as forty years old. In Kansas 
he was almost continuously entrusted with official responsi¬ 
bilities. He was United States Collector, President of the 
State Board of Agriculture, in which capacity he contributed 
to the success of the State at the Centennial Exhibition at 


THE STORY OF 1895-90. 


247 


Philadelphia, and in connection with George A. Crawford 
and Alfred Gray, compiled the third annual report of that 
Board, said by competent authority at the time, to be the 
finest agricultural report ever published in the world. He 
was elected Governor of Kansas in 1876, serving in 1877-79. 
He was afterwards Railroad Commissioner, and at the time 
of his death was State Insurance Commissioner. His funeral 
occurred in the State Senate Chamber at Topeka. He lived 
seventy-two years. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Kansas stands for prohibition. 

2. John L. Waller was released from a French prison by the 

efforts of his fellow citizens of Kansas. 

3. On May 30th a monument was unveiled at Topeka, in memory 

of the men of the Second Kansas militia, who were killed 
at the battle of the Blue. 

4. Judge Thacher and Professor Robinson died in Lawrence. 

5. Lucien Baker was elected United States Senator in 1895. 

6. Among the Legislative acts were the establishment of an 

Appellate Court, a commission on irrigation, with an 
appropriation of $30,000 for experiments; aid to Western 
settlers; resolution to place statue of John Brown in Capi¬ 
tol at Washington. 

7. The year 1896, a presidential year, was largely given up to 

politics. 

8. Kansas cast her electoral vote for Bryan and Sewall. John W. 

Leedy was elected Governor, and Rev. J. D. Botkin, 
Congressman-at-Large. 

9. George T. Anthony, ex-Governor, died at the age of 72 years, 

at Topeka, August 5, 1896. 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 


THE YEARS 1897 AND 1898. 

424. Legislative Session.— The Legislative session of 
1897 lasted sixty-seven days, being the longest on record in 
Kansas. 

January 26th, the joint session of the Legislature elected 
Honorable Wm. A. Harris United States Senator. Mr. 
Harris had previously served in the House of Representa¬ 
tives. J. S. Parks was elected State Printer. 

The Legislature repealed the Act which established the 
State Board of Irrigation, and consolidated the duties 
assigned it to an officer styled the Commissioner of Irriga¬ 
tion and Forestry. 

425. Accomplishments of Board of Irrigation.— 

The Board, during its existence of two years, instituted an 
extensive series of experiments, mostly in the western por¬ 
tion of the State, boring thirteen wells to different depths, 
and testing various pumps and motive powers. The wells 
were sunk at likely and unlikely places to find water, in 
the low grounds and on the high plateaus, and in the sand 
hills. One result of the operations conducted under the 
patronage of the State was to encourage the efforts of 
private parties. In the county of Sherman 150 reservoirs 
for irrigating purposes were constructed in the year 1895. 
Both northwestern and southwestern Kansas were included 
in the State’s experiments, and a great stimulus was given 
the cause of irrigation in those sections. 


248 


THE YEARS 1897 AND 1898. 


249 


426. First Successful Irrigator. —In histories of irri¬ 
gation in Kansas the credit of being the first successful 
irrigator is usually accorded a settler named George 
Allman, who, in 1873, near Fort Wallace, constructed a 
ditch about a mile long, taking water from the Smoky Hill 
river. He succeeded in raising garden vegetables in plenty, 
which he sold at Fort Wallace. Since his time there have 
been thousands of irrigating plants established by indi¬ 
viduals, corporations and the State. The Arkansas has 
been the stream most drawn upon for water, and the town 
of Garden City, which derived its name from the irrigation 
gardens early established in its neighborhood, has become 
the center of the largest and most compact body of irri¬ 
gated country. Kansas possesses an irrigation law 
modeled on that of Colorado. The appearance and even 
the climate of Kansas it is believed is to be greatly changed 
by irrigation. 

The search for an underground supply of water for 
domestic and irrigating purposes has resulted in the dis¬ 
covery in central Kansas of what seems a subterranean 
river, with a slow but defined flow in a certain direction, 
and apparently exhaustless in quantity. 

427. Agricultural Reports. — The carefully collated 
and very conservative statistics collected by the Secretary 
of the State Board of Agriculture, showed that the farm 
products of Kansas for the years 1897-98 amounted in 
value to $288,259,056; which was a gain of $43,506,301, 
or nearly eighteen per cent over the preceding biennial 
period. The reports show an increase in the value of 
farm products in Kansas for every biennial period 
from 1877-78 forward, except for 1885-86, and 1893-94. In 


250 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


other words there were four unproductive years in twenty- 
one. 

428. Wheat Production. —With 1897 came increased 
signs of prosperity, following a period of depression. It 
was estimated that Kansas raised, in 1897, enough wheat 
for every man, woman and child in the State; to provide 
seed for the coming year, and feed all of New England, 
New York and Pennsylvania for twelve months. 

429. Kansas Oil. —In April, 1897, a great oil refinery 
was building at Neodesha, and eighty-seven wells produced 
daily an average of four barrels of oil each. The stock of 
oil accumulated at Neodesha before the opening of the new 
refinery amounted to over 300,000 barrels. In July, oil 
was piped from Neodesha to Chanute. Kansas began to 
buy, in quantity, Kansas oil. In 1897, Iola, Coffeyville, 
Independence, Cherry vale, Paola, Neodesha, Osawatomie, 
Kansas City, Kan., and Chanute were noted as producers of 
natural gas. 

Kansas was rated as the eighth State in the Union in the 
number of men employed in coal mining. The salt pro¬ 
ducing capacity at Hutchinson was increased to over 
1,650,000 barrels per annum. 

430. Reduction of Indebtedness.— There were evi- 
dencesthis year of the diminution of the enormousload of debt, 
which Kansas had accumulated in the boom days. Early 
in the year ten counties were reported as without indebtedness. 
Estimates based on reports from registers of deeds in thirty- 
eight counties indicated that the mortgage indebtedness of 
the State was reduced in seven years over $100,000,000. 

431. Necrology of 1897. —The necrology of the year 
included Mrs. Clotilda Hilton Greer, widow of Samuel W. 


THE YEARS 1897 AND 1898. 


251 


Greer, second Territorial Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion, and an early settler of Doniphan and Cowley counties. 
Sol Miller, the veteran editor of the Kansas Chief , at Troy, 
oldest in length of service, and best known of Kansas 
editors. Judge N. C. McFarland, of Topeka, at one time 
Commissioner of the General Land Office, and in that office 
the friend of the homestead settler. Harrison Kelley, a 
former Congressman and member of the Legislature. 
Lewis Hanback, a veteran of the war for the Union, repre¬ 
sentative of Kansas in Congress, and a prominent figure in 
the Grand Army of the Republic. Major J. B. Abbott, a 
pioneer Free State settler, who figured in the rescue of 
Branson, the rescue of the Doys, and most of the stirring 
events of the days of the “border troubles.” Mrs. Mary 
Ward, who came to Kansas long before it ceased to be the 
Indian Territory, and was the first white woman settler in 
what is now Shawnee county. Captain William J. Clark, 
who died at Hobart, Delaware county, New York, was the 
last survivor of John Brown’s men. As a boy of nineteen 
he took part in John Brown’s last raid. On the 3d of August 
State Senator Daniel McTaggart was murdered at Inde¬ 
pendence. He was known for his services in the State 
Legislature, and as the most extensive cultivator of cotton 
in Kansas. 

432. Sons of the Revolution. —In February, 1897, 
was organized the first Kansas chapter of the Sons of the Revo¬ 
lution. The patriotic societies having an historical origin 
find a fertile soil in Kansas. The population is largely 
American, and a great number of families trace to a Revolu¬ 
tionary, and even Colonial, ancestry. The “sword of Bun¬ 
ker Hill” has been carefully handed down in Kansas. 


252 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


433. Relic of 1794.— The antiquity of the navigation 
of the Kansas river was demonstrated by the finding, in 
digging for the foundation of the bridge across the river at 
Topeka, of the rudder of a boat, with the date “1794” 
carved upon it. 

434. Sunday School by Telephone. —Kansas, in 1897, 
furnished the only example of a Sunday School conducted 
by telephone. The school was that of the First Methodist 
Church, at Wichita, which was directed through the phone 
from his sick bed by Mr. W. E. Stanley, afterwards Gov¬ 
ernor of Kansas. 

The 29th of January was, in 1897, formally observed by 
both branches of the Legislature as “Kansas Day.” 

435. Omaha Exposition. —The year 1898 was a period 
of hope and prosperity, and one of the matters which 
engaged early attention was a proper representation of the 
State at the Omaha Exposition. A commission was 
appointed, and the State divided into four districts for the 
purpose of furnishing exhibits. 

On the 27th of May, 1898, Professor Henry Worral, of 
Topeka, who assisted in the arrangement of the Kansas 
exhibit at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, stated that 
the Kansas display at Omaha would be ready on the day of 
opening, the first State to have its exhibit prepared. The 
Exhibition closed in October, 1898; was visited by many 
thousands of Kansas people; and throughout its continu¬ 
ance the Kansas department, which was particular^ fine 
in its agricultural and mineral divisions, was a leading 
attraction. 

436. Tax Receipts. — An added evidence of the 
renewed prosperity of the State was the receipt at the 


THE YEAKS 1897 AND 1898. 


253 


State treasury, in the month of January, of $1,500,000 in 
taxes. There had never been before an instance of so 
large a payment of taxes due so early in the year. 

437. Fire at the State University. —On the 22d of 
March, the powerhouse, engine-room, and machine shops 
of the Kansas State University were destroyed by fire. 
The citizens of Lawrence advanced $20,000 for machinery 
and apparatus for the restoration, and Mr. George A. 
Fowler, of Kansas City, Mo., generously erected a new 
building, at a cost of $21,000. 

438. Ev-Governor Thomas A. Osborn.— Ex-Gover- 
nor Thomas A. Osborn died at Meadville, Pa., on the 4th 
of February, 1898. He was bom at Meadville, October 
26, 1836. He learned the printer’s 
trade, and read law in Pennsylvania, 
and came to Kansas Territory in 1857. 

On his arrival he worked first at his 
trade, in Lawrence, and received the 
thanks of the editor and proprietor of 
the Herald of Freedom for his efficiency 
as foreman; afterwards he practised his 
profession at Elwood, Doniphan county. 

The bent of his genius lay, however, in Ex ' Governor Thomas A - Osborn - 
the direction of politics, and he was elected from Doniphan 
county to the State Senate, and chosen president pro tern, of 
that body. In 1862 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor. 
In 1864 he was appointed United States Marshal. In 1872 he 
was elected Governor, and re-elected in 1874. In 1877 he was 
appointed United States Minister to Chili, and in 1881 to 
BrazilAfter his return from abroad, Governor Osborn fixed 
his residence in Topeka, and represented Shawnee county in 





254 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


the State Senate. He was on a visit to his native place at 
the time of his death. Governor Osborn was a man of 
winning manners and distinguished appearance, one of the 
most popular of the public men of Kansas. His funeral 
at Topeka was attended by the fast diminishing company of 
Kansas Governors, and a great concourse of people. 

439. State Election. —At the November election of 
1898, the Republican ticket for State officers was elected: 
Governor, W. E. Stanley; Lieutenant-Governor, H. E. 
Richter; Secre tar y of State, George A. Clark; Treasurer, 
Frank E. Grimes; Auditor, George E. Cole; Attorney- 
General, A. A. Goddard; Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion, Frank Nelson; Associate Justice, William R. 
Smith. 

Of the members of Congress, the Republicans elected: 
W. J. Bailey, Congressman-at-Large; Charles Curtis, First 
District; J. D. Bowersock, Second District; J. M. Miller, 
Fourth District; W. A. Calderhead, Fifth District; W. A. 
Reeder, Sixth District; Chester I. Long, Seventh District. 
The Populists elected E. R. Ridgely, in the Third Dis¬ 
trict. 

440. War with Spain. —In Kansas, peaceful and pros¬ 
perous during the year 1898, the thought of the people was 
yet of war—the war with Spain, and the war in the Phil¬ 
ippines, brought on by the attack on the United States 
troops by the natives. 

The event which created the most enthusiasm was the 
victory of Admiral Dewey at Manila, on the 1st of May, 
1898. Kansas never before saw so many American flags 
unfurled to the air as in honor of the triumph of the 
American navy. 


THE YEARS 1897 AND 1898. 


255 


Kansas, far from the ocean, in the heart and centre of 
the continent, could hardly be expected to furnish men for 
the navy, and great enthusiasm was aroused by the discovery 
that a number of Kansas sailors participated in the battle 
of Manila. Their names were published with great pride 
throughout the length and breadth of the State. 

SUMMARY. 

1. The longest Legislative session held in Kansas was that of 

1897; Wm. A. Harris was elected U. S. Senator. 

2. Garden City illustrates successful irrigation; an underground 

river discovered in Central Kansas. 

3. Large oil refinery built at Neodesha. 

4. The reduction of indebtedness in seven years was $100,000,000. 

5. Many old citizens died in the year 1897. 

0. The first chapter of the Sons of the Revolution organized in 
February. 

7. Kansas made good display in all departments at the Omaha 

Exposition. 

8. Fire at University destroyed valuable property. 

9. W. E. Stanley elected Governor. 

10. Ex-Governor Osborn died in Meadville, Pa. 


CHAPTER XXXVII. 


KANSAS IN THE WAR. 

441. Colonel Fred. Funston and Cuba. —Kansas people 
sympathized from the first with the Cubans in their struggle 
against the tyranny of Spain, and their knowledge of the 
situation was increased by the arrival from Cuba, in 
January, 1898, of Colonel Fred. Funston, a “Kansas boy,” 
a former student of the State University, with home and 
friends in Kansas, after a service of two years in the insur¬ 
gent army in Cuba, and who spoke in many places on the 
incidents and the lesson of the Cuban war for freedom. 
The people of Kansas were deeply moved by the sufferings 
of the hapless Cuban non-combatants; the starving to death 
of 150,000 people, and the evident determination of the 
Spanish to exterminate the Cuban race. 

442. Destruction of the Maine. —The treacherous 
destruction of the Maine , in the harbor of Havana, stirred 
the indignation of the citizens of Kansas, as it did of all 
loyal Americans. They waited, however, the result of the 
investigation, and in the meantime were generous partici¬ 
pators in the effort to relieve the starving Cubans, especially 
at Matanzas. 

443. Events of Moment. —The succession of events 
was watched with the most intense interest; the passage 
of the emergency bill appropriating $50,000,000. for the 
defence of the United States; the message of President 

256 


KANSAS IN THE WAR. 


257 


McKinley with the Maine report; the President’s message 
recommending the intervention of the United States; the 
passage by Congress of the intervention resolutions; the sub¬ 
mission of the President’s ultimatum to Spain; the beginning 
of the war by the act of Spain in breaking off diplomatic 
relations with us. Kansas, in every step for the protection 
of the honor of the United States, stood by the Government. 

444. Volunteers. —The President’s call for 125,000 
men was issued on the 23d of April. But Kansas did not 
wait for the call. On the 18th of April a company of eighty 
men marched to the office of Governor Leedy, followed by 
a great crowd, and offered their services for the war, which 
the Governor promised to accept on the first call. On the 
18th of April a tender was made Secretary of War Alger by 
General Charles McCrum, of the Kansas National Guards, 
for any needed service at any time. 

The quota of Kansas when the call came was announced 
as 2,230 men. Governor Leedy summoned to his aid Colonel 
Fred. Funston, probably the only man in Kansas who had 
seen military service in Cuba, and the work of recruiting 
three regiments of volunteer infantry began at once. 

445. Action of Kansas University and the State 
Normal. —The desire to enlist ran high among the young 
men of Kansas, and was manifested in the higher educational 
institutions. The council of the State University felt impelled 
to issue a circular, advising students to weigh the question 
well in their hearts and consciences before enlisting, but if 
they heard the voice of honor and country call, to receive 
the blessing of their alma mater and the admonition, “Go, 
and God bless you.” Members of the senior class enlisting 
were granted their diplomas without waiting for graduation. 


258 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The State Normal School extended the same courtesy to its 
soldier-students. 

446. At Camp Leedy. —It was soon announced that in 
Kansas the policy adopted in some of the States, of enlist¬ 
ing the National Guard organizations into the volunteer 
service, would not be followed, but that the regiments 
would be raised without regard to existing militia organiza¬ 
tions. The first Kansas company recruited at Kansas City, 
Kan., was largely made up of men from Company B of the 
First Regiment, Kansas National Guard. This company 
was enrolled on the 29th of April, and left for Topeka on 
the 30th, and would have been the first in “Camp Leedy, 7 ’ 
as the State Camp laid out at the Fair Grounds at Topeka 
was called, had not the Topeka company marched out to 
camp in the morning, before the Kansas City soldiers arrived. 
The Topeka and Kansas City companies, however, “opened” 
Camp Leedy. There was a vigorous effort made to have 
Fort Leavenworth, where many of the Kansas regiments 
were mustered in the Civil War, adopted as the State ren¬ 
dezvous, but “Camp Leedy” continued during the war to 
be the spot where the Kansas soldier entered his country’s 
service, while Fort Leavenworth was his place of exit 
from it. 

Recruiting offices were established at various points in 
the State, but the recruiting officers had an easy task. To 
raise a company was, at most, a matter of a few days. At 
Emporia the quota was filled in four hours. 

447. Major Joseph K. Hudson, a Brigadier-General. 

—Governor Leedy, by the 5th of May, was able to inform the 
War Department that two regiments were ready at Camp 
Leedy. 


KANSAS IN THE WAK. 


259 


On the 27th of May, Major Joseph K. Hudson, who had 
won his title in the old Tenth Kansas and the Sixty-Second 
United States Volunteers, was nominated as a Brigadier- 
General from Kansas. 

448. The Twentieth. —It was decided that in number¬ 
ing the regiments, allowance would be 
made for the seventeen regiments Kansas 
raised in the Civil War, and the two 
recruited afterwards to fight the Indians, 
and accordingly the first Kansas regi¬ 
ment enrolled in the war against Spain 
should be numbered the Twentieth, which 
number came to be heard of on both 
sides of the world. The Twentieth Kan¬ 
sas Volunteers was made up of the twelve 
companies recruited at Topeka, Kansas City, Kan.; Leaven¬ 
worth, Fort Scott, Independence, Ottawa, Osawatomie, Abi¬ 
lene, Salina, Lawrence, Leroy, and Pittsburg, and was 
mustered into the service of the United States on the 13th 
of May, 1898, with the following regimental officers: Colonel, 
Frederick Funston; Lieutenant-Colonel, Edward C. Little; 
Senior-Major, Frank H. Whitman; Junior-Major, Wilder 
S. Metcalf; Adjutant, William A. Deford; Quartermaster, 
Lafayette C. Smith; Surgeon, John A. Rafter; Assistant- 
Surgeon, Charles S. Huffman; Assistant-Surgeon, Henry 
D. Smith; Chaplain, John G. Schliermann. 

449. The Twenty-First. —The companies from King- 
man, Wichita, Eldorado, Winfield, Great Bend, Larned, 
Osage City, Hays City, Norton, Smith Centre, and 
Wellington, contributed to form the Twenty-First Regi¬ 
ment, and were mustered on the 14th of May, with 



General J. L Hudson. 





260 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Colonel Thomas G. Fitch, commanding; Lieutenant-Colonel, 
Charles McCrum; Senior-Major, Harry A. Smith; Junior- 
Major, W. L. Brown; Adjutant, John Nicholson; Quarter¬ 
master, John C. Little; Surgeon, Frank 
C. Armstrong; Assistant-Surgeon, C. 

E. Biddell; Assistant-Surgeon, F. W. 

Turner; Chaplain, W. E. Woodward. 

450. The Twenty-Second. — The 
Twenty-Second Regiment was mustered 
on the 17th of May, made up of the 
companies from Columbus, Parsons, 

Atchison, Seneca, Holton, Concordia, 

Clay CAtre, Blue Rapids, Beloit, 

Emporia and McPherson. Company H of this regiment 
was made up of students volunteering from the State 
Normal School, the State Agricultural College, the State 
University, Washburn College, and the College of Emporia. 

The regimental officers of the Twenty- 
Second were: Colonel, Henry C. Lind¬ 
sey; Lieutenant-Colonel, James Graham; 
Major, A. M. Harvey; Major, Charles 
Doster; Adjutant, Clay Allen; Quarter¬ 
master, H. A. Lamb; Surgeon, John 
P. Stewart; Assistant-Surgeon, L. C. 
Duncan; Assistant-Surgeon, W. F. 
DeNeideman; Chaplain, V. H. Bidde- 
son. 

The three regiments were sworn into the service of the 
United States by Lieutenant W. F. Clark, U. S. A., on 
duty as professor of military science at Baker University, 
Baldwin City, Kan. 



Colonel Lindsey. 










KANSAS IN THE WAR. 


261 


451. To the Field.— On the 16th of May, 1898, the 
Twentieth Regiment broke camp at Topeka, and took the 
Union Pacific for San Francisco, under the command of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Little, Colonel Funston having been 
called for a time to Washington. The regin*ent traveled 
in a train of two sections to Junction City, and westward 
from that point in three. All through Kansas the soldiers 
were enthusiastically received. The regiment reached Oak¬ 
land and San Francisco without accident, and began at once 
their actual life as soldiers. The Twenty-First was the next 
to leave, journeying to the great camp on the old field of 
Chickamauga, and after a brief interval, on the 25th of 
May, 1898, the Twenty-Second left Camp Leedy for Camp 
Alger, near Falls Church, Va. Thus, by the 1st of June, 
Kansas had three regiments mustered into the service of 
the United States, and in camps of instruction. 

452. Colored Troops; the Twenty-Third.— On the 
21st of June, Governor Leedy announced his intention of 
raising two battalions of colored troops, under the Presi¬ 
dent's call for 25,000 men. James Beck, of Riley county, 
and John M. Brown, of Shawnee county, were bulletined 
as Majors. It was given out that the command of the 
battalions, as Lieutenant-Colonel, would be assumed by 
Major H. H. Young, U. S. A., but that officer remained 
with the Ninth Ohio, at Camp Alger. In face of many 
predictions of its impossibility, the enlistment of colored 
soldiers proceeded. By the 4th of July there were 400 
men at Camp Leedy; two days later there were 550 men. 
On the 13th of July Governor Leedy telegraphed the War 
Department that two battalions were ready, and asked 
permission to raise a third, and was informed that the 


262 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


volunteers under the President’s call had been entirely 
apportioned. On the 28th of July, Captain Reynolds, 
U. S. A., mustering officer of the Twenty-Third Kansas, 
as the command was now called, was notified that its arms 
would be fftrw'arded from Springfield, Mass., ammuni¬ 
tion from the Frankfort arsenal, and 
the remainder of the equipment from 
Rock Island. 

The regimental officers of the Twenty- 
Third were: Lieutenant-Colonel, James 
Beck, Sr.; Majors, John M. Brown and 
George W. Ford; Assistant-Surgeons, 
Charles S. Sunday and Frederick D. 
G. Harvey; Adjutant, Samuel T. Jones; 
Quartermaster, Frederick M. Stone. 

453. At the Camps. —The summer of 1898 was a 
period of suspense. The Kansas regiments went through 
the first experience of new soldiers, including the measles. 
The Twentieth had the advantage of being “in town,” at 
San Francisco, while the Twenty-First and Twenty-Second 
were in the “country resorts” of Camp Alger and Camp 
Thomas. The Kansas soldiers at San Francisco were, at 
first, subjected to considerable newspaper criticism on the 
matter of their external appearance; but it was observed, 
also, that more than half of the officers of the regiment 
were graduates of the Kansas State University. 

The Twentieth grew in grace and in favor with the people 
of San Francisco. The Twenty-First and Twenty- 
Second found themselves camped in historic localities. 
“Camp Alger” was situated on the old plantation of 
Lord Fairfax, with which Washington was familiar when a 








KANSAS IN THE WAK. 


263 


young soldier, and Camp Thomas on the bloody field of 
Chickamauga in the old war. 

During the summer, recruiting officers visited Kansas on 
behalf of the Kansas regiments. In one day 100 men left 
Lawrence to join the Twentieth. 

454. The Twenty-Third to Santiago. —As it turned 
out, the colored regiment, the Twenty-Third, was the first 
to leave the soil of the United States. The regiment left 
Topeka August 22, 1898, went directly to New York, and 
sailed on the Vigilencia for Santiago, arriving there on the 
1st of September. The Twenty-Third arrived at Santiago 
850 strong, in time to see the embarkation of the last of 
the Spanish troops for Spain. The Twenty-Third was 
within twenty-four hours loaded on a railroad train and 
transported to San Luis, an old Cuban town, where it was 
destined to remain until its return to the United States. 

455. The Delay .—On the 1st of September Kansas was 
represented by four regiments, the Twentieth at San Fran¬ 
cisco, the Twenty-First at Chickamauga, the Twenty-Second 
at “Camp Alger/’ the Twenty-Third at San Luis in the 
island of Cuba. Thus the situation remained for weeks. 
The Kansas regiments were the objects of the solicitude 
of the people of the State, and news from the camps was 
eagerly sought for. As heard from, the Kansas regiments 
bore well the test of camp life and discipline. The old 
soldier population took a keen interest in the progress of 
the young soldiers. The Kansas troops soon overcame the 
deficiencies and difficulties of the first days in camp, and won 
the good will alike of their comrades and their commanders, 
their only source of grief being what seemed to them the 
unaccountable delay in sending them to meet the enemy. 


264 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


456. Strike the Tents.— With the middle of August 
eame the signing of the protocol, and the evident end of 
the war with Spain. Many of the enlisted men felt that 
their mission was completed, as the foe had disappeared. 
In addition, both Camp Alger and Camp Thomas became 
subjects of complaint on account of their unhealthiness 
and discomfort. With the reduction determined on by the 
Government, of the volunteer force, came the order for the 
discharge of the Twenty-Second. All the regiments had in 
the meantime changed camps. The TAventieth had been 
transferred from “Camp Merritt, 7 ’ a dreary and inhospit¬ 
able spot, to “Camp Merriam’’ at the Presidio. The Twenty- 
Second marched to Middletown, Pa., the Twenty-First was 
transferred from Chattanooga to Lexington, Ky. 

457. The Twenty-Second Arrives in Kansas.— The 
first regiment to arrive at Fort Leavenworth, for muster 
out, was the Twenty-Second. The regiment arrived from 
Camp Meade, Middletown, Pa., on the 11th of September, 
1898, in excellent condition, with but tAvelve men in 
hospital. A most kindly and enthusiastic reception was 
given the regiment by the people of Leavenworth. The 
Twenty-Second went into camp on the reservation, but the 
larger number of the men were given verbal furloughs for 
thirty days, and departed for their homes. As the com¬ 
panies reached the towns and cities of their enlistment they 
were given a hearty welcome home in the shape of dinners 
and receptions. 

458. The Twenty-First.— The Twenty-First Regiment 
arrived at Leavenworth from Lexington, Ky., on the 28th 
of September. The regiment had suffered severely at 
Camp Thomas. The first section to arrive at Leavenworth 


KANSAS IN THE WAR. 


265 


was the hospital train, with ninety sick men. The regi¬ 
ment was not held at Fort Leavenworth, but the men, 
sick and well, sent home on verbal furloughs. The men 
returned to Fort Leavenworth at the expiration of their 
leave, and were mustered out, the Twenty-Second on the 
3d of November, and the Twenty-First on the 10th of 
December. 

459. The Twentieth at San Francisco. —The Twen¬ 
tieth, which had left Topeka on the 16th of May, in the 
meantime remained at San Francisco. Seven times in five 
months, it is said, the regiment was assigned to transports, 
and as often the orders were countermanded. The last of 
October came, and still the regiment remained at San 
Francisco. 

Whatever deprivations the Kansas troops were subjected 
to, they were not deprived of the elective franchise. As 
the election in Kansas drew near, the regiments were sup¬ 
plied with poll books and other voting conveniences. 

460. To Manila. —On the 27th of October, the Second 
and Third Battalions of the Twentieth Kansas Volunteer 
Infantry, Colonel Funston in command, sailed on board 
the transport Indiana for Manila, and the Philippines, 
where the Filipino war had succeeded the Spanish War. 
The Indiana arrived at Honolulu on the 8th of November, 
election day, and the polls were opened on the Irmgard 
wharf, and the legal voters of the Twentieth went ashore 
and voted. On the same day the Newport left San Fran¬ 
cisco with the First Battalion under Lieutenant-Colonel 
Little. The men went to the polls immediately after going 
on board, and then, in company with the Wyoming Light 
Battery, set sail across the wide Pacific. 


266 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The Second and Third Battalions passed four days at 
Honolulu, and resumed their journey. Thanksgiving Day 
was observed at sea, and on December 1, 1898, the Indiana 
dropped anchor in the harbor of Manila. The Neivport, 
with the First Battalion, arrived on the 6th of December. 

The regiment was soon landed, and as¬ 
signed to quarters in buildings in the 
vicinity of the Pasig river. 

461. The First to Fall. —More seri¬ 
ous business was to follow. On the 
night of the 7th of February, 1899, the 
men of the Twentieth were engaged with 
the Filipinos, and the gallant Lieutenant 
Alford was killed, and, with Private 
Charles Pratt, was the first to fall under 
the colors of the Twentieth. 

462. Battle of Caloocan. —In this, which may be 
described as their first action, the Kansas soldiers displayed 
the qualities which have since distinguished them. The 
Filipinos were massed in front of the Kansans for a night 
attack. Companies B, C, I, and a part of E were ordered 
to charge the woods. With Colonel Funston on the right 
and Major Metcalf on the left, the line moved forward for a 
mile before the enemy opened fire. Company B, led by 
Lieutenant Alford, answered the fire. “Keep going, but 
move steadier,” said the young officer, and fell within sixty 
feet of the muzzles of the enemy’s guns, but the hostile 
line was driven. This was the fight which gave the Kansas 
Twentieth the right to inscribe the name “Caloocan” on 
its colors, for its charge carried it into the heart of that 
town. 



Lieutenant Alford. 






KANSAS IN THE WAR. 


267 


463. Death of Captain David G. Elliott. —Every day 
during the operations following the fight at Caloocan, the 
Twentieth, with their comrades of General Harrison Gray 
Otis’ brigade, were kept at the front, when not taking the 
offensive against the masses of the enemy, enduring the fire 
of their hidden sharpshooters. It was thus, on the 20th 
of February, that the gallant Captain 
David G. Elliott was killed. 

464. Colonel Funston at Malolos.— 

The Kansas regiment took part in the 
movement of March 25th, by which the 
enemy’s line was broken in two. In the 
movement of March 27th, Colonel Fun¬ 
ston and twenty of his men swam the 
Marinao river and captured eighty of the 
enemy. Colonel Funston and a party 
of his men were first to enter Malolos, the Filipino capital. 

465. Advance on Calumpit. —In the advance on Cal- 
umpit the Twentieth Kansas moved along 
the railroad guarding the armored train. 
When the Bagbag river near the town 
was reached, it was found that an attempt 
had been made to destroy the railroad 
bridge and that one span had sunk in 
the river. Colonel Funston called for 
volunteers, and with Lieutenant Ball, 
Trumpeter Barsfield, Corporal Ferguson, 
and two men from Companies K and E, 

crawled along the iron girders, and when the broken span 
was reached, slid down into the water and swam to the 
opposite bank and drove the Filipinos, who had been 



General Fred. Funston. 









268 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


broken by the fire of Company K, out of their trenches. 
Company K, which covered the landing of Colonel Funston, 
was commanded by Captain Boltwood, of Ottawa, a veteran 
of the Civil War. The Twentieth was with the first to 
enter Calumpit. 

After Calumpit, the Twentieth advanced fighting almost 
continuously. In the attack at San Tomas, on the 4th of 
May, Lieutenant Wm. A. McTaggart, of Montgomery county, 
was killed, the third commissioned officer lost in the brief 
campaign. At the crossing of the Rio Grande river the 
regiment highly distinguished itself. Under a heavy fire, 
repeated efforts were made to reach the enemy. At last 
Privates Trembly and White swam the river with a rope, 
fastened it to the enemy’s trenches, and by this, a raft was 
towed over with Colonel Funston and his men, who swept 
the Filipinos out of their works. The Kansas regiment 
occupied San Fernando, and through the month of May 
thereafter was engaged with parties of the enemy, the 
latest recorded fight in the month being a victory at Santa 
Anita, north of San Fernando. General Harrison Gray 
Otis, in taking leave of the brigade, paid a high compliment 
to the Kansas regiment and Colonel Funston. The command 
was then assumed by General Lloyd Wheaton, U. S. A. 
Early in May it was announced that Colonel Funston had 
been promoted to be Brigadier-General. On the 20th of 
May General Wheaton was assigned to other duty, and Gen¬ 
eral Funston assumed the command of the brigade. 

The casualties of the Twentieth regiment to the 13th of 
May, 1899, one year from the date of muster, show the 
severity of their service. Three commissioned officers and 
twenty-seven enlisted men were killed in action, twenty-nine 


KANSAS IN THE WAR. 


269 


enlisted men died from disease, and nine commissioned offi¬ 
cers and ninety-eight enlisted men were wounded in action. 

When the record closed, the Twentieth was still obeying 
the last order of its gallant young officer, who fell at 
Caloocan: “Keep going, but move steadily/’ Crowding 
through the dense jungle, under the blaze of a tropical sun, 
obeying every order, suffering, but not cast down, uphold¬ 
ing the honor of their country and their State. 

466. Home-Coming’ of the Twenty-Third.— On the 
10th of March, 1899, the Twenty-Third arrived at Leaven¬ 
worth. They came by transport from Cuba to Newport 
News, and were four days on the road between Newport News 
and Leavenworth. As the men dropped from the cars and 
fell in by companies, it was remarked that their six months 
in service had made them soldiers. The colored regiment 
met with an enthusiastic reception from their own people, 
who lavished upon them every attention. In a short time 
they were mustered out, and merged into the community 
of citizens. 

467. Kansas Proud of Her Boys. —Kansas followed 
with pride and interest the movements of her soldiers. 
Many of them belonged to the first generation of Kansas, 
the first-born of the State; many were the sons of soldiers, 
the inheritors of brave traditions. In the enrollment of 
the Kansas soldier, with his descriptive list was given the 
name of his nearest relative. Kansas, the State, stood 
next in order to the kinsman. 

The dead were brought home from beyond the wide seas 
and buried with honor, or laid in their graves in a distant 
land with the soldiers’ last farewell. 


270 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


SUMMARY. 

1. Kansas sympathized with the Cubans and supported the 

Government of the United States. 

2. On the 18th of April a company of eighty-nine men was offered 

for the war, and the services of the Kansas National Guards 
were tendered. 

3. Enlisting students of the senior classes of the State University, 

and of the State Normal School were given their diplomas in 
advance of graduation. 

4. Major J. K. Hudson was commissioned a Brigadier-General, 

United States Volunteers. 

5. First Kansas Regiment enrolled for war with Spain was num¬ 

bered the Twentieth, and commanded by Colonel Fred 
Funston. 

6. The Twenty-First, Colonel Fitch; Twenty-Second, Colonel 

Lindsey, were mustered. 

7. The Twentieth left for San Francisco, the Twenty-First for 

Camp Thomas, Chickamauga, and the Twenty-Second for 
Camp Alger. 

8. Two battalions of colored troops were raised—designated the 

Twenty-Third Regiment; under command of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Beck departed for Santiago. 

9. After the signing of the protocol, the Twenty-First, Twenty- 

Second and Twenty-Third were mustered out. 

10 In October the Twentieth sailed for Manila. The Twentieth 
first engaged in the battle of Caloocan—Lieutenant Alford 
killed. 

11. Colonel Funston promoted to be Brigadier-General. 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 


EVENTS OF 1899. 

468. Special Session. —The close of the year 1898, 
and the opening of 1899, found a special session of the 
Legislature assembled, which had been convened by Gover¬ 
nor Leedy on December 21, 1898, to adopt legislation 
regulating railroad companies, and for other purposes. 
There was some discussion in regard to the validity of this 
special session, which was, however, established by the 
State Supreme Court in the following February. 

469. Inauguration. — William E. 

Stanley was inaugurated Governor of 
Kansas on the 9th of January, 1899. 

The retirement of the outgoing State 
administration was marked by many 
courtesies extended to their successors. 

470. The Legislature of 1899.— 

The Legislature of 1899 met in regular 
session on the 10th of January, with Lieu¬ 
tenant-Governor Richter as President of 
the Senate, while Hon. S. J. Osborn was chosen Speaker 
of the House. 

471. Provisions for State Buildings.— The session 
was largely occupied in the consideration of local measures. 
The principal public acts were those providing for a tax 
levy sufficient to complete the State House, which had been 

271 





272 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


thirty-three years in building, and to build a third State 
Insane Asylum, and providing a commission to select the site. 

472. Traveling* Libraries.— The Legislature granted 
an appropriation of $2,000 to aid, for two years, in the 
work of the Traveling Libraries, and provided for the 
appointment of a commission of three persons, who, 
together with the State Librarian and President of the 
Kansas State Social Science Federation of Clubs, shall have 
the management of the traveling library department of the 
State Library. This commission may send out temporarily, 
from the State Library, such books as may be selected for 
the purpose by the directors, and any books given or 
bought for such traveling libraries, to any library in the 
State, or to any community or organization not yet having 
an established library. Under the provisions of the Act, 
the libraries, averaging fifty books in number, are sent out 
from the State Library to the communi¬ 
ties, neighborhoods and organizations 
applying for them, and, when read, are 
returned to be again dispatched. A 
large number of books have been donated 
by women’s clubs and by individuals. 

473. The Federation; Kansas 
Women. —The Kansas State Social Sci¬ 
ence Federation of Clubs, with whom 
originated this plan for the distribution 
of good literature, was the outgrowth of the Social Science 
Club of Kansas and western Missouri, the initial meeting of 
which was held at Leavenworth, May 18, 1881, under the 
suggestionof the late Mrs. Harriet Cushing, of Leavenworth, 
and Mrs. Mary T. Gray, of Kansas City, Kan. The women 



Mrs. Harriet Cushing. 




EVENTS OF 1801). 


of Kansas have, from the first, been a power for good 
in the State, and largely through their organizations 
they made possible the success of the 
State at the great expositions at Phila¬ 
delphia and Chicago. This faculty for 
organization has given Kansas between 
three and four hundred women’s clubs, 
devoted to the cultivation and the ele¬ 
vation of women, and the safety, well¬ 
being and improvement of the State. 

474. Enrollment at Kansas Uni¬ 
versity. —The Kansas State University, 
which sent forty-one men to the war, opened its term in 
February, 1899, with a larger enrollment than ever before. 
The annual catalogue of 1899, showed an enrollment of 
1,044 students. 

475. Funeral of Lieutenant Alford.— On the 22d of 

April occurred, at Lawrence, the funeral of Lieutenant 
Alford, whose remains were brought from Manila and 
buried in his native city. He was the first to fall in the 
Philippine campaign of the Twentieth Kansas Regiment. 

476. Kansas Shipment. —In 1898 Kansas shipped 
corn to California. In 1899 a feature of the State com¬ 
merce was the shipment of trainloads of cotton from 
Independence. 

477. Colonel Thomas Moonlight. —Colonel Thomas 
Moonlight died in Leavenworth on the 7th of February, 
1899. He was born in Forfarshire, Scotland, and came 
early in life to the United States. The Civil War found 
him a disbanded sergeant of the “old regular army,” living 
on a farm near Leavenworth. He entered the Union 



Mrs. Mary T. Gray. 




274 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


volunteer army and raised a battery. He was soon raised 
to the colonelcy of a regiment, and served through the war 
with much distinction. In 1868 he was elected Secretary 
of State of Kansas, and re-elected in 1870. He filled, later 
in life, the positions of Governor of Wyoming, and United 
States Minister to Bolivia. 

478. Period of Prosperity. —The late spring of 1899, 
in which this record of the life of Kansas closed, found the 
State in the midst of war, and yet in the midst of peace. 
The political contests, which had been sharp and severe for 
some years, and marked with mutations of fortune, had 
taught Kansas people that the State was safe in the hands 
of its honest citizens,-without regard to their party desig¬ 
nations, and there was prevailing “an era of good feeling.’’ 
The losses sustained in the collapse following the boom of 
1887 had been largely made up. A singular feature of the 
recovery in the “boom towns,” which, in their speculative 
days, had scattered their houses over a great area, was 
their practical consolidation. Houses which had stood in 
empty desolation in the midst of boundless “additions,” 
were removed nearer to the actual center of population, 
renovated and repaired, and became again places of business 
and the homes of men. 

479. Payment of Indebtedness. —The discharge of 
the heavy public and private indebtedness of Kansas was 
going on at a rate that surprised financial authorities, but 
the explanation was found in the great natural resources of 
the State. When asked how Kansas in seven years paid 
off more than $100,000,000 of debt, it was answered that, 
in those seven years, Kansas produced four billion dollars’ 
worth of farm products and live stock. 


EVENTS OF 1899. 


275 


The 30th of May, 1899, forty-five years from the day 
President Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, Kansas 
found that she was gathering and not scattering abroad, 
and had gained, withal, that wisdom which is better than 
fine gold. 

480. Text-Book Commission. —The Legislature of 
1897 passed the Text-Book Law in the interest of uniformity 
and economy. The commission was at first temporary, and 
took cognizance of a limited range of books. The Legisla¬ 
ture of 1899 extended the life and powers of the commis¬ 
sion; gave into its charge the selection of books, charts, 
maps, a history of Kansas, globes, and a primer, for use 
in the schools. The original commission consisted of 
Hon. Wm. Stryker, State Superintendent, ex-officio Chair¬ 
man; W. J. Hurd, Holton, Secretary, and seven members. 
Two of the original members, Messrs. D. 0. McCray and 
N. McDonald, retired, and the commission now consists 
of Hon. Frank Nelson, State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, Chairman ex-officio , and W. J. Hurd, Holton; 
S. W. Black, Pittsburg; A. V. Jewett, Abilene; S. J. Hale, 
La Crosse; Professor Frank Smith, Lawrence; Professor J. 
W. Spindler, Winfield; Professor S. M. Nees, Independence, 
and A. H. Lupfer, Larned. The Text-Book Law has, since 
its enactment, served its purpose in securing uniformity of 
instruction, and relieving the people of a considerable 
pecuniary burden. 

481. A Kansas Prison.— The Legislature of 1899 
granted a large appropriation to purchase for the State 
Penitentiary a plant for the manufacture of binding twine, 
being the second penitentiary in the country to enter upon 
this manufacture. The Kansas penitentiary was established 


276 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


in the earliest days of the government and grew with the 
growing proportions of the State. The officer who estab¬ 
lished the system of government and discipline of the prison 
and who longest continued in its direction was Major 
Henry Hopkins. The successors of Major Hopkins built 
upon the foundations he laid, with such faithfulness, that 
the prison has known few escapes, no revolts, and few com¬ 
plaints concerning the firm but humane treatment of the 
prisoners. The prison was one of the first to dispense 
generally with the hideous and humiliating uniform of 
stripes, so that the modern prison has assumed more the 
appearance of a large and well-ordered manufactory. 


SUMMARY. 


1. A special session of the Legislature was called for railroad 

legislation and other purposes. 

2. W. E. Stanley inaugurated Governor. 

3. A tax levy was provided, sufficient to complete the State House 

and build an insane asylum. 

4. Provisions were made for the establishment and maintenance 

of public traveling libraries. 

5. The funeral of Lieutenant Alford occurred at Lawrence, April 

22, 1899. 

C. Colonel Thomas Moonlight died at Leavenworth, February 7, 
1899. 

7. The powers of the Text-Book Commission were extended and 
enlarged. 


CHAPTER XXXIX. 


A CHAPTER ON CAPITOLS. 

482. Kansas Capitols. A history of the various edi¬ 
fices which have been used from time to time for Kansas 
capitols, Territorial and State, yrould serve as a thread on 
which to string a political history of Kansas, and, more¬ 
over, a sketch of the material progress of the country. 

483. Fort Leavenworth.— The first capital of Kansas, 
the first executive office, at least, was at Fort Leavenworth. 
Here, in obedience to his instructions from Washington, 
came Andrew H. Reeder, first Governor of Kansas Terri¬ 
tory. He was assigned quarters in a brick building on 
the west side of the parade. The executive office was in a 
stone building belonging to the quartermaster’s depart¬ 
ment. It was furnished with republican simplicity. Here 
the Governor, who had taken the oath of office in Wash¬ 
ington, administered the obligation to his associates in the 
Territorial Government as they, one after another, arrived. 
Here he issued commissions and proclamations, and on one 
occasion held court as a justice of the peace. 

484. Shawnee Mission. —After fifty days’ experience 
at Fort Leavenworth, Governor Reeder, on the 24th of 
November, 1854, removed the seat of Government to the 
Shawnee Manual Labor School, commonly called the Shaw¬ 
nee Mission, located one mile from the Missouri line, two 
and one-half miles from Westport, Mo., and seven miles 
from Kansas City. 


277 


278 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The mission had been established in 1830, and had con¬ 
tinued as it was begun under the Superintendency of 
Reverend Thomas Johnson. It fell, at the division of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, to the Methodist Church, South. 
Somewhat reluctantly, Reverend Mr. Johnson and his wife 
received as guests the Governor and the larger number of 
the Territorial officers, and saw the mission appropriated in 
part as the capitol of Kansas. The winter of 1854-55 
passed quietly at the Mission. The Governor and his 
associates doubtless watching with interest the operations 
of the Mission, which was then at the height of its pros¬ 
perity, with between 200 and 300 Indian boys and girls in 
attendance, who studied their books, and, besides, labored 
on the fine farm of 1,900 acres, and worked in the shops and 
the mill. The Territorial officers boarded with the Mission 
family, as later on did many of the members and officers of 
the Legislature. 

485. Pawnee. —April 14, 1855, Governor Reeder con¬ 
vened the Territorial Legislature at Pawnee, a “laid-out 
town” near Fort Riley. There was little at Pawnee, except 
a stone house built “on the spur of the moment,” the 
ruins of which are still visible. Yet that stone house was 
the first “capitol building” of Kansas. The Legislature 
refused to remain at Pawnee, and re-located at Shawnee 
Mission. Pawnee came to immediate grief. The site was 
declared to be within the military reservation of Fort 
Riley, and the settlers were removed by the soldiers. 

486. Shawnee Mission.— The Legislature, ensconced 
at the Shawnee Mission, proceeded to perform the acts 
which acquired for it the title, with the Free State people, 
of the “Bogus Legislature.” 


A CHAPTEK ON CAPITOLS. 


279 


Governor Reeder remained with it officially but a short 
time, only four days, at the end of which he informed the 
body that he had been removed. He remained a short time 
longer as a spectator. 

The schoolroom and the chapel of the Mission became 
the halls of the Territorial Council and House of Repre¬ 
sentatives. To Shawnee Mission came the second Terri¬ 
torial Governor of Kansas, Wilson Shannon, and the 
executive office was maintained there until the spring of 1856. 

The buildings of the Shawnee Mission yet remain much 
in outward shape as in their days of education and legisla¬ 
tion, but in all else the scene has changed. There is 
naught of stir or movement now. A beautiful spring 
wells up near the highway, and runs a little stream across 
the yard of one of the buildings, where passing travelers 
stop and drink, but the place is lost to all its ancient uses, 
and the stillness all about is as profound as that which 
rests on the little wall-enclosed cemetery, which crowns the 
slope near by. The scene of a part of the “Kansas 
struggle’ 7 may be reached by an easy walk from Rosedale. 

487. Lecompton Chosen.— A joint session of the 
Legislature in August, 1855, located the permanent capital 
at Lecompton. The successful contestant did not secure 
the prize without a struggle. Not only did Leavenworth 
and Lawrence enter the arena, but St. Bernard, Tecumseh, 
Whitehead, Kickapoo and One Hundred and Ten. 

The second Territorial Legislature which assembled at 
Lecompton, January 12th, met in a frame house, which had 
been built for its occupancy by Mr. William Nace. The 
national administration, however, was determined on 
Lecompton as a capital, and Congress made a liberal appro- 


280 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


priation for a capitol building, which rose only to the 
height of the foundation, but was sufficient to consume the 
appropriation. The foundation was afterwards occupied 
by the building of Lane University. The frame house on 
Elm street was the meeting place of the Lecompton Con¬ 
stitutional Convention, which gave the structure the name 
of Constitutional Hall. The second Legislature held its 
entire session at Lecompton, but the third Legislature, 
which entertained different political convictions, adjourned 
to Lawrence, which was thereafter virtually the capital, the 
successive Legislatures meeting at Lecompton, and adjourn¬ 
ing at once to Lawrence. 

488. In Lawrence. —Lawrence furnished two ‘ ‘capitols” 
in which the Legislature met. One is described by the 
local historian as the “new brick building, just south of 
the Eldridge House,” of which the two houses occupied the 
second and third floors, the other was “the old concrete 
building on Massachusetts street, north of Winthrop.” In 
Lawrence met, in 1861, the last of the Territorial Legis¬ 
latures. 

489. Topeka. —The first State Legislature met in 
Topeka, the temporary and soon to-be-voted permanent, 
seat of Government. 

The “Ritchie Block,” the “Gale Block,” and the Con¬ 
gregational and Methodist churches served as the meeting 
places of the two branches of the Legislature, of the 
Supreme Court, and the officers of the State. “Constitution 
Hall” was a structure on Kansas avenue, which had wit¬ 
nessed five meetings of the Legislature under the Topeka 
Constitution. By contract with citizens of Topeka, this 
structure was incorporated into a more commodious edifice 


A CHAPTER ON CAPITOLS. 


281 


in which met the Legislature of 1864, and its successors 
till 1870. 

490. History of Capitol Building. —During thirty- 
three years the capitol of Kansas has been growing. The 
ground was given by the Topeka Town Association in 1862. 
In 1866 the Legislature provided for the erection of the 
east wing of the capitol building. On the 17th of October 
of that year the corner stone was laid. The wing was so 
far completed that it was occupied by the State officers in 
December, 1869. The legislative halls were first occupied 
for the session of 1870. The Legislature of 1879 provided 
for the erection of the west wing. The House of Repre¬ 
sentatives occupied the unfinished new hall for the session 
of 1881, and the State offices in that wing became occupied 
during that year. The Legislature of 1883 provided for 
commencing work on the foundation of the central portion 
of the building. The structure was so far completed as to 
admit of a temporary finishing of rooms in the basement of 
the south wing, and their occupancy in 1892. The Legisla¬ 
tures of 1891 and 1893 made but very slight appropriations 
for the capitol building, and the work became practically 
suspended until it was resumed under the appropriations of 
the Legislature of 1895. The capitol still remains an illus¬ 
tration of the history of the State, “still achieving, still 
pursuing . 79 Succeeding the line of temporary structures— 
frame, stone, brick and concrete—which served to house 
the executive, judicial and legislative departments of the 
government of Kansas for sixteen years, the growth of the 
present capitol has reflected the growth of the material State. 

Year by year the halls have stretched away; inviting 
porticoes have reached forward; columns have arisen, and 


282 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


last, the high dome has mounted upward. The interior has 
exhibited modern improvements and inventions, from gas 
to electricity. The structure is not completed, any more 
than Kansas is completed. But, as Kansas lives longer 
and learns more, the beneficial progress leaves its impress 
on the capitol in the shaped and fashioned stone, and steel 
and bronze, “from turret to foundation stone.” 

While the edifice has been rising, widening, extending, 
the prairie acres around it have been embraced in the trans¬ 
formation scene of which Kansas has been the stage. The 
Capitol Square, twenty years ago, furnished one of the first 
marked observances of “Arbor Day 77 in Kansas. On the 
proclamation of the Mayor of Topeka, Major Thomas G. 
Anderson, the people of Topeka, young and old, gathered 
between noon and sunset and planted around the Capitol a 
thousand trees. 

[Note. —The facts in this chapter are derived from “The Story 
of the Capitol,” contributed by Judge F. G. Adams, Secretary of 
the State Historical Society, to the Topeka Mail and Breeze of 
March 22, 1896.] 


SUMMARY. 

1. The first Territorial Government of Kansas was quartered at a 

fort. 

2. The second home of the Government was at a mission. 

3. Pawnee a capital for a day. 

4. Lecompton and Lawrence offered rival attractions. 

5. Topeka became the permanent home, and the State builds its 

own house. 


CHAPTER XL. 


MAN AND NATURE. 

491. Opinion of Captain Pike.— Captain Zebulon 
Montgomery Pike, when he looked over Kansas, in l£t)6, 
did not believe it, or the greater part of it, an agricultural, 
or even a habitable country. 

After he had seen a good stretch of eastern and upper 
central Kansas, and had descended into the western valley 
of the Arkansas, he said: “in the western traverse of 
Louisiana the following general observations may be made: 
From the Missouri to the head of the Osage river, a distance 
in a straight line of probably 300 miles, the country will 
admit of a numerous, extensive and compact population; 
from thence, on the rivers La Plate, Arkansas and Kansas, 
and their various branches, it appears to me only possible 
to introduce a limited population. The inhabitants would 
find it most to their advantage to pay their attention to 
the raising of cattle, horses, sheep and goats, all of which 
they can raise in abundance, the earth producing spon¬ 
taneously sufficient for their support, both in winter and 
summer, by which means their herds might become 
immensely numerous, but the wood now in the country 
would not be sufficient for a moderate population more 
than fifteen years, and then it would be out of the question 
to use any of it in manufactories, consequently their houses 
would be of mud bricks (like those in New Spain), but, 

283 


284 


HISTOKY OF KANSAS. 


possibly, time may make the discovery of coal mines, which 
would render the country habitable.” The opinion of 
Pike, of Kansas, was the earlier explorer’s account of high 
prairie country. Major Stoddard, in his description of the 
newly acquired province of Upper Louisiana, expresses his 
doubt if the country forty miles from St. Louis can be 
cultivated on account of the absence of timber for fencing. 

492. Indian Territory Limits.— The Government of 
the United States in defining, in 1830, the limits of the 
Indian Territory, did not give any certain western boundary. 
The Territory was to stretch back from the Missouri river, 
or the Missouri and Arkansas line for 200 miles, or “as far 
as the country is habitable.” 

Pike, in his journeyings in portions of Kansas, now cov¬ 
ered by fields and pastures and orchards, speaks of travel¬ 
ing over “salines,” wastes, and deserts, sterile and “weari¬ 
some heaths.” As he saw it, so it appeared to those who 
came after him, and so the country was platted in the early 
maps as “The Great American Desert.” 

493. Coal. —The only possibility that Pike admits of 
mistake in his calculation, is, that “the discovery of coal 
may make the country habitable.” Otherwise the country 
must remain at best a range, its people herdsmen and 
shepherds, after the fashion of those inhabiting New Spain. 

In the word “discovery” has been found the key to the 
situation. Man has discovered coal in Kansas, and it has 
been discovered east, south and west of Kansas. That was 
the first discovery the. “actual settler” made in Kansas— 
coal, and it has been found in increased quantities since, 
and the country has grown more and more habitable, and 
inhabited. 


MAN AND NATURE. 


285 


It lias been estimated that the coal underlying the coun¬ 
ties of Bourbon, Crawford, Cherokee and Osage, is equal to 
5,000,000,000 cords of wood, or a forest that would cover 
half the surface of Kansas. This discovery has been made 
by man since Pike was here. 

494. Rain and Wind. —The Kansas man has always 
felt, as did Pike, the uncertainty of the rain supply. He has 
attentively measured its yearly, monthly and daily fall. 
There are accurate weather journals in Kansas that have 
been kept up since 1854. The record at the State University 
has been kept, since 1867, three times a day. All the State 
institutions may be said to be weather bureaus and observa¬ 
tories. It has been said that the wind “bloweth where it 
listeth, and whither it goeth and whence it cometh ye 
can not tell. 7? That is not the literal truth in Kansas. 
Every wind that blows over Kansas is noted in its course 
and its velocity. And it is known that there have been 
years with a less “run of the wind’ 7 than was customary 
in the early settlement of the country, when the hurrying, 
worrying blast was one of the greatest troubles of life in 
the new region. 

495. The Underground River.— The quest for water, 
for wells and springs beneath the surface, has never been 
given up in Kansas. At first, the boast of the country 
was, the “water within twenty or thirty feet”; but that 
has not been entirely satisfactory. In no country has there 
been a more constant search for artesian water, for the 
waters under the earth unaffected by surface variations or 
circumstances. The tradition of the “sheet water” has 
been followed, as the Spanish adventurers followed the 
story of El Dorado. The search has not been in vain. 


286 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


The secret of the “underflow” has been penetrated. Flow¬ 
ing under central Kansas, from north to south, is the 
“underground river,” and it has been platted and mapped 
quite as carefully as any surface river in Kansas, the 
Kansas or the Arkansas, the Blue or the Neosho. For 
man’s use it means no one can tell how much. As far as 
called upon it has proved exhaustless. 

496. Oil and Natural Gas. —Kansas has not always 
succeeded in finding on the first examination. How many 
“burning wells” and “oil springs” were noted in the early 
days, and yet it was necessary to wait for the finally great 
developments of oil at Neodesha, and the natural gas at 
Iola, and the salt at Hutchinson. But they were found 
finally, because the hunt for them never gave over. 

497. Arbor Day. —Pike said the timber in the best 
timbered part of Kansas would give out in fifteen years. 
Pike supposed that the proper business of a pioneer and a 
settler was to cut down all the trees as fast as he came to 
them, and pile them up in heaps, and burn them. Pike 
had never heard of “Arbor Day.” He did not suppose 
that the forest of an inhabited country could increase. 
Kansas has proved that it may. To make trees grow where 
once was the smooth and wearisome waste, is the great 
Kansas speculation and calculation. Some of the largest 
artificial forests and orchards in the United States are in 
Kansas. 

498. Kansas is Studied.— Kansas is a great book, 
every page of which is studied every day. The earth and 
the air and the water are examined every hour, and every 
change, every movement is recorded. Great museums are 
already filled with specimens of everything that has ever 


MAN AND NATURE. 


287 


walked or crawled, or spread a fin, or wing or claw in Kan¬ 
sas; of everything that lives in Kansas now, of everything 
that was here millions of ages ago. Kansas continually 
“makes discovery . 7 ’ 

Kansas maintains for this work of discovery many insti¬ 
tutions and societies, the Kansas State Medical Society, 
organized in 1859, and the Kansas Academy of Science, 
founded in 1868, and doubtless springing from organiza¬ 
tions yet older than themselves, are probably the present 
seniors among what may be called societies of research. 

499. Chancellor Snow’s Discovery. —Not only are 
the Kansas beasts of the field and the fowls of the air an 
object of ceaseless study and report, but the insects of 
Kansas, especially those noxious and harmful to the hus¬ 
bandman, are under constant surveillance. One result of 
this is historical. 

In 1888, Professor Snow, of the Kansas State University, 
learned that the chinch bugs of the State were- dying of a 
disease characterized by the appearance of a white or gray 
fungus. This was the first discovery. He next discovered 
that the disease was infectious, that it might be communi¬ 
cated by infected to healthy bugs. This was the second 
discovery, and a Kansas newspaper volunteered the infor¬ 
mation that Professor Snow would send the infectious 
material on application. Within a few days Professor Snow 
received requests from nine different States. 

The discovery was followed up with true Kansas ardor. 
Thousands of packages of the infection were distributed 
over the State, and reports received from thousands of 
experimenters. The Legislature of 1891 made an appro¬ 
priation in aid of Professor Snow’s experimental station 


288 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


at the University. In 1894, 8,000 packages of the infection 
were sent out to individual farmers in Kansas, Missouri 
and Oklahoma. In the meantime the States of Nebraska, 
Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois had followed the example of 
Kansas, and had established their own distributing stations. 
The general result of the labor and investigation kept up 
for years, was, that the farmer may possess a partial, if not 
entire, protection against one of the most destructive of the 
enemies of his fields. This much was demonstrated in and 
by Kansas. 

500. Climate and Cultivation.— In Kansas, man has 
believed, and has most studiously searched to discover if 
the fact be true, that the cultivation of great areas of 
ground may affect the climate. 

If, to slightly change the verse of the Kansan, ‘ ‘Ironquill’ ? : 

Man may bid the climate vary, 

And awaiting no reply 
From the elements on high, 

May with plows besiege the sky, 

Vex the heavens with the prairie. 

If this secret of Nature is ever fathomed, it will be in Kan¬ 
sas, because here man perpetually makes inquiry of Nature. 

501. The Great American Desert. —In the beginning, 
when Kansas was transferred from the scattered, scanty 
and uncertain residence of Indians to the hands of white 
and civilized people, it was still represented on maps as the 
“Great American Desertthis, of course, did not mean a 
scorched and sandy waste like the Desert of Sahara, but it 
meant an open, and for the most part uninhabited country, 
and destitute of the resources, as timber, which had belonged 
to the country previously settled in the United States. 


MAN AND NATURE. 


289 


The task of man, and which he has successfully accom¬ 
plished, for the most part in less than forty years, has been 
to overcome the apparent deficiencies of Nature. He has, 
to use Pike’s phrase, “made discovery.” Where the old 
fuel, wood, was wanting, he has found coal; where there 
was no timber for fencing, he has found other material for 
fences, as wire, and has even gone without. Where there 
were no trees he has planted them. He has made a great 
fruit and orchard State, without any example or encourage¬ 
ment from Nature. 

502. Kansas Records.— Of all that has been done in 
Kansas, careful record has been made. All labor has been 
accompanied by observation. All that the past generations 
have accomplished has been written in an open book for the 
guidance of generations tp come. In Kansas there is pass¬ 
ing what may be called the procession of Nature—the 
succession year by year of the grasses, the flowers, the 
wayside vegetation. In single seasons, the country has 
been covered with some vegetable invader which, in another 
year, was gone. In Kansas, thoughtful and observant eyes 
have watched all this, and written down the order of the 
march. Kansas had among its earliest settlers an unusual 
number of highly educated people. It is recorded that the 
town site of Manhattan was laid out by a party of five 
graduates of Eastern colleges. This element in the early 
population of the State not only insured the stability of the 
educational institutions of the new community, but it gave 
to the State a body of competent scientific observers, it may 
be said, in all departments. What might be known by the 
use of instruments of precision was ascertained and recorded. 
In Kansas nothing rests on the “traditions of the elders” or 


290 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


the broken recollections of unlettered hunters. The younger 
generation has followed in the footsteps of the pioneer 
scientists and scholars. The higher schools of Kansas have 
been remarkable in the number and attainments of the 
young naturalists they have turned out. To young Kansas 
scholars and students the State is greatly indebted for the 
study of its climate, its geology, its fauna and flora, its 
earth and water and air. These have not confined their 
researches to Kansas, but have explored the neighboring 
States and Territories and have been especially brave, en¬ 
during and intelligent investigators of the Rocky Mountain 
region. Kansas naturalists have been from the far North 
to the far South, from the Arctic Circle to the mysterious 
and overgrown cities of Central America, have threaded the 
forests of Cuba and the tropical wilds of Yucatan. 


SUMMARY. 

1. The early explorers and the Government of the United States 

did not believe Kansas an agricultural country. 

2. Successful efforts by man have overcome the difficulties of 

Nature. 

3. The discovery of coal and the growth of forests. 

4. The obliteration of the desert and the finding of waters under 

the earth. 

5. Every phase of Nature in Kansas is the object of observation 

and record. 

6. Man in Kansas contends with success against every natural 

enemy, including insects injurious to agriculture. 


CHAPTER XLI. 


KANSAS LITERATURE. 

503. First Printing*. —The first printing press brought 
to what is now Kansas was for the use of an Indian mission. 
The first books printed were Indian books. But few copies 
of these books now exist; the readers long ago departed. 

504. Kansas and the Modern Press. —The begin¬ 
nings of the modern daily American newspaper press were 
almost contemporaneous with the beginnings of civilized 
and enlightened Kansas. The use of the telegraph, in 
those days called the “magnetic telegraph,” for newspaper 
work, was, in 1854, becoming general. Power presses were 
first considered necessary, and another newspaper adjunct, 
first developed in Kansas Territory, was the “correspond¬ 
ent.” Several of the greatest papers of the country 
maintained “special correspondents” in Kansas. Many of 
these young men possessed much ability, and made a 
national reputation, as William A. Phillips, the corres¬ 
pondent of the New York Tribune. Many of these were 
not merely writers, but doers of the word, and took part in 
the battles of the Territory. 

505. The First Newspapers.— Kansas had newspa¬ 
pers as soon as it had a population. The first newspaper was 
the Leavenworth Herald. Its first office was the shade of 
a large elm tree. Lawrence had newspapers very soon 
after. John and Joseph Speer and George W. Brown 

291 


292 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


became “toilers of the pen and press” at Lawrence, in 
October, 1854. The newspapers were all political, either 
for freedom or slavery. In the case of the Free State 
papers, their names often indicated their principles, as the 
Herald of Freedom , or Freedom’s Champion. A great deal 
of talent found its way into Kansas newspaper offices of 
that early time. Napoleon said that every French soldier 
carried a marshal’s baton in his knapsack; in Kansas, 
future governors, senators, chieftains and ambassadors 
carried printer’s rules in their pockets. 

506. Early Observers. — The ferment in Kansas 
brought to the scene interested observers, writers of present 
or future eminence; these wrote books about Kansas. 
Some of these were guide books, some histories, some 
narratives of personal experience. One of the first writers 
on territorial Kansas was Rev. Edw^ard Everett Hale, since 
those days famous in the literary history of the country. 
Mr. Hale’s book was published in 1854, and was entitled 
“Kanzas and Nebraska: the History, Geographical and 
Physical Characteristics, and Political Position of Those 
Territories; an Account of the Emigrant Aid Companies, 
and Directions to Emigrants.” Mr. Hale’s publication 
was not intended as “elegant literature,” but to direct 
Northern emigration to Kansas. Much that was written in 
the early days and since has been with the same purpose. 

507. Some Early Books. —The missionaries who lived 
and labored in Kansas wdiile it was still Indian country, 
wrote their books of their charges and their efforts. To 
these belong the narratives of Isaac McCoy, and Henry 
Harvey, who wrote a “History of the Shawnee Indians, 
from the Year 1681 to 1854.” The “correspondent,” of 


KANSAS LITERATURE. 


293 


whom mention has been made, collected his letters into 
volumes. Such were G. Douglas Brewerton’s “War in 
Kansas,” Mr. Brewerton being a correspondent of the 
New York Herald , and supposed to be impartial. Other 
books were not presumed to be neutral in sentiment, as 
“The Conquest of Kansas by Missouri and Her Allies,” by 
William A. Phillips. Neither could the imputation of lack 
of feeling be charged upon “Kansas, its Interior and 
Exterior Life,” by Mrs. Sara T. L. Robinson, wife of 
Governor Charles Robinson. This book ran through six or 
more editions, and was favorably noticed by the London 
reviews, and, speaking of British opinion, a very readable 
book about Kansas was, “The Englishman in Kansas, or 
Squatter Life and Border Warfare,” by Thomas H. Glad¬ 
stone, a Kansas correspondent of the London Times , and a 
kinsman of William Ewart Gladstone, England’s great 
statesman. These and many more books were written in 
and about Kansas in the days of the “troubles,” and 
largely inspired by the “troubles.” They are, generally 
speaking, rare books now. In some cases the “visible 
supply” of them is reduced to one or two copies, but they 
were widely read when new, and the events of which they 
spoke were fresh in the public mind. 

508. Literature Affected by Environment. — The 
cultivation of literature in Kansas was affected by the cir¬ 
cumstances surrounding the country. Days of drought 
and famine; “domestic quarrel” and “foreign levy,” 
Indian raid and border foray were not favorable to the pro¬ 
duction of books. But through all existed a vigorous and 
powerful newspaper press; as alert as a sentry on a post 
dangerous and beset. The pen as well as the sword was 


294 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


tendered Kansas in the later fifties. In those years there 
came writers who remained, D. R. Anthony, D. W. Wilder, 
T. Dwight Thacher, Sol Miller and John A. Martin and 
others, and thrust in their sickles in the field, where in a 
way, the pioneer editors, and John Swinton, and Phillips 
and Albert D. Richardson and Richard J. Hinton, and 
more had reaped. But these last “came to stay,” and 
to leave a permanent impress on the life and literature of 
the State. 

509. The Kansas Magazine. —After the wars were 
over, and the piping times of peace had come, and the 
sword had been shaped into a pruning hook, the literary 
genius of Kansas was mainly devoted, for awhile, to 
exploiting the resources of the State. Seldom in any 
country have the efforts of the land agent been more 
powerfully aided by the pen of the ready writer. Yet it 
was in these days that appeared the Kansas Magazine , the 
most brilliant experiment in our literary history. The 
Kansas Magazine secured a corps of contributors (without 
money and without price), the larger number of whom 
were Kansas men and women; and much that was written 
referred to Kansas. The contributors who secured the 
largest number of readers were John James Ingalls and 
“Deane Monahan.” Both held their ascendency through 
the same merit, it might be called charm, their familiarity 
with the locality, with outward and visible nature. Mr. 
Ingalls revealed, as it had not been before, the secret of the 
spell of natural Kansas over the hearts of her children. 
“Deane Monahan,” (Captain James W. Steele,) had been, 
before his magazine days, an officer in the regular army of 
the United States, and had been stationed at posts, and 


KANSAS LITERATURE. 


295 


made many weary marches in the far West. He made 
familiar to Kansas readers the desert earth and the vast 
sky, the canon and the mesa, of New Mexico. It is prob¬ 
ably true until he wrote of it, that few had ever seen a 
picture of the “Jornada del Muerto,” the “Journey of 
Death. ” 

While the Kansas Magazine had but a comparatively brief 
existence, it made a lasting literary sensation. Bound vol¬ 
umes of it are now deemed valuable, and odd numbers are 
eagerly gathered up. 

510. Two Books Invaluable.— After the magazine 
period, appeared two books of incalculable value to Kansas; 
Wilder’s “Annals of Kansas,” and Andreas’ “History of 
Kansas”—the latter known to Kansas 
people by a much more commonplace 
name. Neither of these books was 
written with any attempt at literary ex¬ 
cellence, they are merely collections of 
“facts and figures.” The “Annals” 
represent the knowledge and industry of 
one Kansas man; the “History” was 
the work of a great number of persons. 

They form in Kansas the basis of history. 

So complete are they in their field that Kansas history can 
not be written without them. 

511. Local Histories. —It will be found that, in the 
brief time allowed, Kansas has “celebrated herself.” In 
addition to the “Annals” and the “History” already men¬ 
tioned, there have been written many local histories. In 
1876, the Centennial year, special interest was manifested 
in the preservation of the chronicles of Kansas counties, 



D. W. Wilder. 




296 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


and many volumes were written. They were of much 
present interest, and will serve as helps and guides to 
future annalists. Most valuable, too, are the biennial 
volumes issued by the State Historical Society. They con¬ 
tain what may be called history “at first hands,” the 
stories of actors and eye witnesses. In these are supple¬ 
mented the few “war histories” written by Kansas authors, 
as Burke’s “Military History of Kansas,” Hinton’s “Army 
of the Border,” and Britton’s “Civil War on the Border.” 
The story of life on the great plains, and the mountains 
beyond them has been told in the volumes of Colonel Henry 
Inman. 

512. A Kansas Library.— The Reverend J. W. D. 
Anderson made a collection of Kansas books. Mr. Ander¬ 
son was a native Kansan of literary taste and feeling, and 
the gathering together of all the books of or about Kansas, 
was with him a labor of love, which he performed with 
great fidelity. Before Mr. Anderson’s death his collection 
passed into the possession of the Kansas State University, 
and now forms a part of the University library. Many 
additions have been made in all departments since the day 
of the “Anderson Collection,” but the best and most suf¬ 
ficient estimate of the literary work done in the first thirty 
years of the life of Kansas may be formed by an inspection 
of its volumes. 

513. Poetry of Kansas.— Of poetry, Kansas may be 
said to have produced much. No great epic poem has yet 
appeared; no single song with the assurance of being 
sung forever, but much of graceful, and sometimes of 
inspiring verse, which has been preserved and cherished as 
the poet has been faithful in two things, to life as it is in 


KANSAS LITERATURE. 


297 


Kansas, and the human heart as it is everywhere. This 
has kept in mind Mrs. Allerton’s “Walls of Corn,” and 
Eugene Ware’s “Washerwoman’s Song.” Kansas verse 
has been gathered in modest volumes, as in Miss Horner’s 
“Songs of Kansas,” and the sheaf of 
verses by members of the State Uni¬ 
versity called ‘ ‘Sunflowers. ’’ Nearly all 
has been in the first instance given to 
the newspapers, and often has received 
no more permanent form. The tender 
and graceful poems of the brilliant Josie 
Hunt, of Kansas, have never ceased 
their newspaper journey in nearly, or 
quite forty years. The poems of Richard 
Realf—earliest of Kansas poets, and whose life was a 
tragedy—were given, with scarcely a thought, to the press. 
Recently, Richard Realf’s friend in the old Kansas days, 
Colonel Richard J. Hinton, has gathered up the poems from 
far and wide, and given them to readers in preservable 
form. 

Kansas poetry, so far as it has been affected by Kansas, 
has reflected the infinite quiet of the great wide land; of 
the immense blue arch of heaven. When the storm and 
stress of the first days is remembered, there seems to be 
little in our verse of the stir of conflict, and the ring of 
steel, or the gaiety that valor knows. An exception to this 
rule is preserved in Wilder’s “Annals,” written by an 
unknown hand. It will be understood that K. T. are 
the initials of Kansas Territory. The verses originally 
appeared in the long deceased periodical, Vanity Fair , in 
September, 1861. 



Eugene Ware. 







298 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


K. T. Did. 

From her borders, far away, 

Kansas blows a trumpet call, 

Answered by the loud “hurrah” 

Of her troopers, one and all. 

‘Knife and pistol, sword and spur!” 

Cries K. T.— 

‘Let my troopers all concur, 

To the old flag, no demur— 

Follow me!” 

Hence the song of jubilee. 

Platyphillis from the tree, 

High among the branches hid, 

Sings all night so merrily— 

“K. T. did, 

She did—she did!” 

Thirty-score Jay hawkers bold, 

Kansas men of strong renown, 

Rally round the banner old, 

Casting each his gauntlet down. 

Good for Kansas,” one and all 
Cry to her; 

Riding to her trumpet call, 

Blithe as to a festival, 

All concur! 

Hence the revel and the glee, 

As the chanter from the tree, 

High among the branches hid, 

Sings all night so merrily— 

“K. T. did, 

She did—she did!” 

514. Other Kansas Contributions. — Kansas has 
contributed in many ways to what may be called the 
literature of the country. Many Kansans, going abroad, 


KANSAS LITERATURE. 


299 


have written books of travel; many books have been 
written on social questions, mostly embodying “advanced 
views,” but what may be termed the literary bent of the 
State has been in the direction of sketch writing, news¬ 
paper and magazine writing, which, in time, may grow 
and gather into books. Of course the myriad-minded 
Shakespeare has been remembered. Kansas has produced 
Wilder’s “Life of Shakespeare” and Randolph’s “Trial of 
Sir John Falstaff.” Both treating the great dramatist 
originally and profitably. 

No Kansas author has as yet written a “great” or 
“standard” work on any subject, for the reason that no 
Kansas writer has yet found a lifetime to devote to such. 
A large number of Kansas writers, usually young men and 
women, are contributors to the leading magazines, reviews 
and literary journals of the country. The story-teller is 
the coming man in Kansas; the people will gather about 
him. Of later years, among those who have attracted 
attention may be mentioned Edgar W. Howe’s “The Story 
of a Country Town”; the newspaper sketches of Harger, 
Morgan, Albert Bigelow Paine, and William Allen White. 
The widest circulation ever attained by the works of a 
Kansas author, has been by the stories of Rev. Charles M. 
Sheldon, of Topeka, “In His Steps,” and the succeeding 
volumes have been sold in many thousands, and translated 
into various modern languages. These books are of a 
deeply religious character, and are visions of the “good 
time coming” hoped for. Many of the Kansas men and 
women are equally facile in prose and verse, and it is 
remarked that John James Ingalls, whose prose illuminated 
the old Kansas Magazine and has been an attraction to 


300 


HISTORY OF KANSAS. 


Kansas readers always, has written the most perfect single 
verse in Kansas literature: 

Opportunity. 

Master of human destinies am I; 

Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait. 

Cities and field I walk. I penetrate ' 

Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by 
Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late, 

I knock unbidden once at every gate. 

If sleeping, wake; if feasting, rise, before 
I turn away. It is the hour of fate, 

And they who follow me reach every state 
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe 
Save death; but those who hesitate, 

Condemned to failure, penury and woe, 

Seek me in vain, and uselessly implore. 

I answer not and I return no more. 


SUMMARY. 

1. The printing press first brought to Kansas for Indians. 

2. The opening of Kansas Territory was nearly contemporaneous 

with the advent of the modern daily newspaper. 

3. The Territorial period was the subject of remarkable books. 

4. Kansas from the first possessed a vigorous, powerful and alert 

newspaper press. 

5. The Kansas Magazine a brilliant literary experiment. 

6. Two fountains of Kansas history. 

7. The varied efforts of Kansas writers cover largely the field of 

present interest in poetry and prose, and Kansas and 
Nature. 


APPENDIX 


THE STATE OF KANSAS. 

ORIGIN OF NAME, LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT AND DATE OF 
ORGANIZATION OF EACH COUNTY.* 


Allen.— Organized in 1855. County 
seat, Iola. Named in honor of Wil¬ 
liam Allen, of Ohio, who was for 
many years a member of the United 
States Senate from that Common¬ 
wealth, and also its Governor. He 
favored the doctrine of popular sov¬ 
ereignty on the opening of the Terri¬ 
tory of Kansas to settlement. 


Anderson. —Organized in 1855. 
County seat, Garnett. Received 
its name from Jos. C. Anderson, 
of Missouri, who was a member of 
the first Kansas Territorial Legisla¬ 
ture, and‘Speaker pro tem. of the 
House of Representatives. 

Atchison.— Organized in 1855. 
County seat, Atchison. Named for 


David R. Atchison, a Senator from 
Missouri, and President of the 
United States Senate at the date of 
the passage of the Act for the organ¬ 
ization of the Territory of Kansas. 

He was a Pro-Slavery Democrat, and 
zealous partisan leader in the discus- 
* sions and movements affecting the 
interests of slavery and its attempted establishment in the new 
State to be created. 





*By permission, from Admire’s Political Hand Book of Kansas. Crane 
& Co., Topeka. 




















302 


APPENDIX. 



Isabel 


jAriiber 


Lake City: 


M unford 


A, Sharon 


/•feuhdup' 


Lodi 


I etna 


.''Kid red 


lazeltd/ni 


Hardtnei 


Maplcton 


Xenia*) }(/ r 


.Harding f~ 


• Holman 


Hammond 


Berlin 


.Devon 


Majella 


• Gilfillan 


Ronald 


Lakeside* 


Washburn 
•■•.- Jc. / 
'• GodfrevJ 


• Rockfc 


(Hiattville 


f Pawnee 
l/v Sta. 


Porterville) 


IRe serve 


Springs; 


Morrill 


iPadonia 


HamlinS^ 


Carson 


IHIAWATHA 

/ Mannville 


■ Fairview 


Jdelity 


Comet 


Powhattan 


■Caker 


'Wiinsv.-.;.;:-/.:.-.- 

. f^OF.verest 
• Pierce j e\\\- 


German town* 


Horton) 


Barton. 

ably effective philanthropic career in 
the sanitary department of the army. 

Bourbon. — Organized in 1855. 
County seat, Fort Scott. Received 
its name from Bourbon county, Ky., 
the latter having been one of the 


• MEDICINEl/LQDG 
• Dnerhead 


Barber.— Organized in 1873. County 
seat, Medicine Lodge. In honor of Thomas 
W. Barber, a Free State settler of 
Douglas county, who was killed in 
consequence or the political troubles, 
near Lawrence, December 6, 1855. 
(The county was originally named in 
the statute as “Barbour,” but was 
corrected by special act of the Legis¬ 
lature in 1883.) 


Barber. 


Barton. — Organized in 1872. 
County seat, Great Bend. In honor 
of Miss Clara Barton, of Massachu¬ 
setts , who won great distinction during 
the war for the Union by her remark- 


Bourbon. 

nine counties organized in 1785 by 
the Virginia Legislature, before Ken¬ 
tucky became an independent State. 
It was so called as a compliment to the 
Bourbon dynasty of France, a prince 
of that family (then on the throne) 
having rendered the American colonies 
important aid in men and money in 
their great struggle for independence. 
Colonel Samuel A. Williams, a native of 


Brown. 
































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


303 


Bourbon county, Ky., was a member of 
the House from Fort Scott in 1855, and 
it was at his request that the county was 
so named. He was mustered in as Cap¬ 
tain of Company I, Second Kansas Cav¬ 
alry, November 22, 1861, and resigned 
March 28,1862. He died at his old home, 

Fort Scott, in August, 1873. 

Brown.—Organized in 1855. County 
seat, Hiawatha. After Albert G. Browne, 
of Mississippi, who had been Senator 
and member of the House of Represen¬ 
tatives from that State, was United States 
Senator at the date of the Act organizing 
Kansas Territory, was re-elected for six 

years in 1859, but withdrew with Jeffer¬ 
son Davis on the secession of the South¬ 
ern States. The name is properly 
spelled with an e in the original statute, 
but on the county seal the e was left 
off—accidentally, probably. All later 
statutes present the name without the 
final e. 

Butler.—Organized in 1855. County 
seat, Eldorado. For Andrew P. Butler, 
who was United States Senator from 
South Carolina, from 1846 to 1857. 

Chase.—Organized in 1859. County 
seat,. Cottonwood Falls. Created out of 
portions of Wise and Butler counties, 
and named in honor of Salmon P. Chase, successively Governor of 
Ohio, United States Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, and Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court. In the Senate he was earnest in 
his opposition to the extension of slavery into Kansas. 

Chautauqua.—Organized in 1875. County seat, Sedan. Created 
out of a portion of what was first God¬ 
frey county, named after‘‘Bill” God¬ 
frey, a noted trader among the Osages; 
then Howard county, in honor of 
Major-General 0. 0. Howard, for 
his efforts in behalf of the Union. 

Chautauqua county, N. Y., was the 
former home of Hon. Edward Jaquins, 
a member of the Kansas Legislature 
in 1875 from Howard county, who 





Chautauqua. 




















304 


APPENDIX. 





introduced the Bill which divided 
Howard into Chautauqua and Elk; 
hence, from his native place this 
county derives its name. The name 
originally given (in 1855) to Howard 
county was Godfrey, and the name 
was changed to Seward in 1861. In 
1867 the Legislature, ignoring former 
names, created the county of Howard, 


Cherokee. 

which embraced all the territory of 
Seward and a five-mile strip additional 
on the west. 

Cherokee. — Organized in 1866. 

County seat, Columbus. First named 
McGee in 1855, for E. McGee, of Mis¬ 
souri, who was a member of the Ter- Cheyenne, 

ritorial Legislature. In 1866 the name 

Cherokee was adopted, from the fact that 
a large portion or the “Cherokee neutral 
lands,” reservation of that tribe of Indians, 
was included in the geographical area of the 
county. 

Cheyenne. —Boundaries defined in 1873. 
Organized April 1, 1886. County seat, St. 
Francis. Named after the Indian tribe of 
that name. 

Clay. — Or- 

g anized in 1866. 

ounty seat, 

Clay Center. 

Named in honor 
of the distin¬ 
guished Kentucky statesman, Henry 
Clay, who was chosen United States 
Senator in 1806. He afterwards served 
in both houses, and was in public life 
most of the time during a period of 
forty-six years. He was minister to 
England and France, and candidate for 









































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


305 


President in opposition to Polk. He 
died in Washington in 1852. 

Clark. — Organized May 5, 1885. 

County seat, Ashland. Originally 
and correctly Clarke, with a final e, 
in memory of Charles F. Clarke, Cap¬ 
tain and Adjutant-General, United 
States Volunteers, who died at Mem¬ 
phis, December 10, 1862. 

Cloud. —Organized as Shirley, in 
1860. County seat, Concordia. The 
county was 

originally named after Governor Willliam 
Shirley, colonial Governor of Massachu¬ 
setts from 1741 to 1756. The name was 
changed to Cloud in 1867, in honor of 
Colonel William F. Cloud, of the Second 
Regiment, Kansas Volunteers. 

Coffey.— Organized in 1859. County 
seat, Burlington. Named in honor of 
Col. A. M. 

Coffey, a 
member of 
the first 
Territorial 
Legislative 

Council. Colonel Coffey died at Dodge 
City in 1879. 

Comanche. — Organized February 
27, 1885. County seat, Cold water. 

Named from the Indian tribe of that 
name. The county was first organized 

in the 
fall of 

1873, under a general law then in 
force, and was represented in the Leg¬ 
islature under that organization in 
1874; but that organization was held 
fraudulent and void. 

Cowley.—Organized in 1870. County 
seat, Winfield. Named in honor of 
Matthew Cowley, First Lieutenant of 
Company I, Ninth Kansas Cavalry, 
who died in the service October 7, 
1864, at Little Rock, Ark. The county 






Cowley. 





















306 


APPENDIX. 




was originally named Hunter, after 
R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia. 

Crawford. — Organized in 1867. 
County seat, Girard. This county was, 
by an Act of the Legislature of 1867, 
created out of the northern half of 
Cherokee, which prior to that date 
reached to Bourbon. It was named 
in honor of Samuel J. Crawford, who 


Crawford. 

was elected Governor in 1864, and 
served nearly four years. 'The Legis¬ 
lature named the county in obedience 
to a resolution passed in convention, 
held to petition for its organization. 

Governor Crawford resigned in Octo¬ 
ber, 1868, to become Colonel of the 
Nineteenth Kan¬ 
sas Cavalry, 
specially raised 
for the Indian 

war of 1868-69. He served as Captain in the 
Second Kansas Infantry, and was Colonel of the 
Second Regiment Colored Volunteer Infantry, 
the war for the Union. 

Deeatup.— Organized in 1879. County seat, 
Oberlin. Boundaries defined by legislative 


enactment m 
honor of Com- 
Decatur, a dis- 
ican naval offi- 
Dickinson. cer. He fell in a 

duel with Com¬ 
modore Barron, United States Navy, 
in 1808. 

Dickinson. — Organized in 1857. 
County seat, Abilene. In honor of 
Daniel S. Dickinson, who was a Sena¬ 
tor from the State of New York. In 
1847 he introduced, in the United 
States Senate, resolutions respecting 


1873. Named m 
modore Stephen 
tinguishedAmer- 


Doniphan. 
























DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


o 

o 


07 



Gideon: Sibley ] 
.-MMeasant* 

TjuirSlound .. G r vinlandl 
{ Alfred* Moiling, 

\ .Lapeer. • •• 

• •. Worden Hlllsau 
: .Globe * • Raidwir 

.Appanoose : Media*/ 


territorial government, embodying the doctrine of 
popular sovereignty, afterwards incorporated in the 
Bill for the organization of Kansas 
Territory. He died in 1866. 

Doniphan. — Organized in 1855. 
County seat, Troy. In honor of Col. 
A. W. Doniphan, of Missouri. He 
commanded a regiment of cavalry 
during the Mexican War, marching 
across the plains, and taking a very 
prominent part in the conquest 


of New 


Douglas. 

san in the effort made 
slavery into Kansas. 

Douglas. — Organized in 1855. 
County seat, Lawrence. In honor of 
Stephen A. Douglas, United States 
Senator from Illinois, and candidate 
for the presidency in 1860. As a 
Senator, Douglas, in 1854, took a 
leading part in securing the adoption 

of the 


Mexico. He 
zealous parti- 




pop- 


Edwards. 


ular sovereignty” principle in the Act 
organizing Kansas Territory, which 
gave the particular form of the issue 
involved in the Kansas struggle. 

Edwards. — Organized in 1874. 
County seat, Kinsley. Named in 
honor of John H. Edwards, of Ellis, 
State 
Sena¬ 


tor. Colonel Edwards removed from 
Kansas to New Mexico. 

Elk. —Organized in 1875. County 
seat, Howard. Created out of the 
northern portion of what had been 
Howard county. Named for the Elk 
river, which traverses its area from 
northwest to southeast. (See Chau¬ 
tauqua. ) 

Ellis. —Organized in 1867. Hays is 
the county seat. Named in memory 



Ellis. 































308 


APPENDIX. 


of George Ellis, First Lieutenant of 
Company I, Twelfth Kansas In¬ 
fantry, killed in battle April 30,1864, 
at Jenkins’ Ferry, Ark. 

Ellsworth. — Organized in 1867. 
County seat, Ellsworth. Named after 
Fort Ullsworth, a military post built 
on the bank of the Smoky Hill, in 
1864. This fort was so called by 
General Curtis, in honor of the officer 


Ben's. Ranch' Uf .V/.w.". • X 
•> * Masrner.|: 

^ ' <* eV ° 

: c'. • -.mV?.- .iovuv.':, C'^ .p^ 




Ellsworth. 


who constructed it, Allen Ellsworth, 
Second Lieutenant of Company H, 
Seventh Iowa Cavalry. When the 
name was adopted for the county it 
was supposed that the fort had been 
named in memory of Colonel E. E. 
Ellsworth, of national fame. 

Ford. —Organized in 1873. County 


seat, Dodge City. Named in honor 
of Colonel James H. Ford, of the 
Second Colorado Cavalry, and Brevet 
Brigadier-General United States Vol¬ 
unteers. 

Franklin. — Organized in 1855. 
Couni y seat, Ottawa. Named in 
honor of the illustrious Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Finney. — Organized in 1884. 
County seat, Garden City. Originally 
Sequoyah, from the celebrated Chero 


I*:'*. Centropolis* NorwoV, 

■<li; :: .Wellsville^. 

r?.';>?Oarlingtoto:-:-;-y..V'i 


^ vAx; 

\ %/O.e Loupe' 

S. OHawa 
OTTAWA 


A Peoria 

r-iv/ : . «g 

--' ■'■■V: 

: r '*7< Burlington .To. 


i V Homewood 


. r**x' •' 


'•: ■ *><~Ransoni V. 


■ ’• 'm y-N ' ■ . H 

^ yr Willi u rn s b u 

Pri nee ton -; 

/Isilkville ^ 


- Richmond 

tt\ 



. Plymell 


Franklin. 

kee Indian of that name, the inventor 
of the alphabet of his language, and 
a most remarkable man. Changed 
in 1883 to Finney, in honor of D. W. 
Finney, then Lieutenant-Governor of 
the State. 

Geary.— Organized in 1855 as Davis county, 
which .name was given for Jefferson Davis— 
United States Senator and Secretary of war—who 
became President of the Southern Confederacy. 


Finney. 
































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


309 


The Legislature changed the name to Geary, in 1889, in honor of 
John W. Geary, who was Territorial Governor of Kansas from 
1850 until March, 1857. County 
seat, Junction City. 



Gove. —Organized Septem¬ 
ber 2, 1886. Gove is 
the county seat. In 
honor of 
Captain 
Grenville 
L. Gove, 
Eleventh 
Ka n s a s 
Cavalry, 
who died 

„ in 1864. 

Geary. 



Gove. 



Graham. 


Graham. — Organized in 1880. 
County seat. Hill City. In honor of 
Captain John L. Graham, of the 
Eighth Regiment, Kansas Infantry— 
killed in action at Chickamauga, 
Tenn., September 19, 1863, before he 
was mustered. 

Grant. — Organized June 9, 1888. 
County seat, Ulysses. Named in 
honor of General Ulysses S. Grant. 

Gray. — Organized July 20, 1887. 
County seat, Cimarron. Named in 
honor of Alfred Gray, late Secretary 
of the State Board of Agriculture. 



Greeley.— Or¬ 
ganized July 9, 
1887. County 
seat, Tribune. 
Named in honor 
of the founder of 
the New York 
Tribune. 

Greenwood.— 
Organized in 
1862. County 
seat, Eureka. 
This county re¬ 
ceived its name 



Grant. 


Gray. 






































310 


APPENDIX. 



Greeley. 

ganized in 1873. 


as a compliment to Alfred B. Greenwood, 
who, about the time of the organization 
of the Territory, was commissioner of 
Indian affairs. He negotiated treaties 
on the part of the United States with the 
Sac and Fox, and other tribes in southern 
Kansas. 

Hamilton. — Organized January 29, 
1886. County seat, Syracuse. In honor 
of General Alexander Hamilton, the great 
American statesman; he 
was killed in a duel 
with Aaron Burr, 

July 11,1804. 


Harper. — Or- 

County seat, Anthony. 
The organization of this county was one of 
the most glaring frauds ever perpetrated in 
the State. Attorney-General Williams, in 
his official report, says: “It is not pretended 
that Harper county 
ever had an inhabit¬ 
ant.” The form of 
its organization was 




Greenwood. 


Hamilton. 


so many hours he would be dead; the 
bet was taken, and Marion Harper 
won. 

Harvey. —Organized in 1872. County 
seat, Newton. Named for James M. 
Harvey, Captain of Company G, Tenth 
Regiment of Kansas Infantry, and 
Governor of the State from 1869 to 
1873. In January, 1874, he was elected 


legal on paper, and that is all. In 1878 
the organization became legal. The county 
was named ih memory of Marion Harper, 
first Sergeant of Company E, Second Regi¬ 
ment Kansas Cavalry. He was mortally 
wounded at Waldron, Ark., December 
29, 1863, and died the following day. His 
comrades say he took his death coolly. 
When brought 
in wounded, 
he proposed a 
wager that in 



Harper. 


































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


311 


United States Senator to fill an unex¬ 
pired term ending in 1877. 

Haskell.— Organized July 1, 1887. 
County seat, Santa Fe. Named in 
honor of Dudley C. Haskell, of Law¬ 
rence, who died, while serving the 


;: :Vv.v.-;i vahHo'e 

Colusa*-' 

j: '• santa: 

Lockport 

0 / ; - ' -• 

\ ' 

•). 'F.blsbm : V: 

• • -Taw* • • 



Harvey. 


State as Congressman, December 16, 
1883. 

Hodgeman. — Organized in 1879. 
County seat, Jetmore. Named in 
honor of Amos Hodgman, Captain of 
Company H, Seventh Kansas Cavalry. 
He died October 16, 1863, near Ox¬ 
ford, Miss., of wounds received in an 



Haskell. 

action at Wyatt, Miss., October 10, 

1863. The name should be spelled 
Hodgman without the e — it was so 
spelled in the original statute of 1868, 
which created the county, but by 
accident — probably — in the statute „ , a n 

which defined its boundaries in 1873, 

the e was inserted. Of course it is legally Hodgeman , and must remain 
orthographically incorrect until changed by legislative enactment. 
Jackson. —Organized in 1857. County seat, Holton. Originally 
Calhoun, in honor 
of John C. Cal¬ 
houn, of South 
Carolina,changed 
in 1859 to Jack- 
son, after Andrew 
, rV{V ,:. v —,-v Jackson, seventh 

°\|. President of the 

oca U Birmingblam\. r 1 United States. 

> l xL 

Ma } ,t,a^ D ; Jefferson.— 

luthccdal- Organized in 1855. 

County seat, Oska- 
loosa. In honor of 
Thomas Jefferson, 




Jackson. 














































312 


APPENDIX. 



third President of the United States— 
author of the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence. 

Jewell. —Organized in 1870. County 
seat, Mankato. Named in memory of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis R. Jewell, 
Sixth Kansas Calvary, who died No¬ 
vember 30, 1862, of wounds received 
in the battle of Cane Hill, Ark., 
November 


Johnson. —Organized in 1855. 
County seat, Olathe. Named for Rev. 
Thomas Johnson, who in 1829 estab¬ 
lished a mission among the Shawnee 
Indians, about 
eight miles south¬ 
west of Kansas 
City. Mr. John¬ 
son took the Pro- 
Slavery side of 
politics, and was 




Johnson. 


Kearny. 


President of the first Territorial Council, 
was shot and killed, in January, 1865. 

Kearny. —Or¬ 
ganized March 
27,1888. County 
seat, Lakin. 

Named after Gen¬ 
eral Kearny, who 


He 



'^IVnalbaa'.-X-:' 

’ raujningliair^"''~*v>Siy; / 

* /V \/K 

*s\ J 

ClevelandV- 

— >.— \s<* 

ff \.ash mo t • v • • ' 
r" aterloo - 

INGMAN' 

V-Mameda— "i ' 

'• • OyjivltnmitS^ 
Case ' 

« Julia • 

1 



Kingman. 

the West during the Indian troubles. 

Kingman. — Organized in 1874. 
CQunty seat, Kingman, which was 
named in honor of Samuel A. King- 
man, who was then Chief Justice of 
Kansas. 


Kiowa. 




























DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


313 



Labette. 


Kiowa. —Organized March 23, 1886. 
County seat, Greensburg. Nanted after 
the Kiowa Indians. 

Labette. —Legally organized in 1867. 
County seat, Oswego. Originally part 
of Dorn county, after Colonel Earl Van 
Dorn, of the regular army (he was also a 
Confederate officer), but changed from 
Dorn to Neosho in 1861, after name of 
the principal river in southern Kansas. 
Labette county has a peculiar history, 
not generally known, or at least not 
found in the books. Prior to the sum¬ 
mer of 1866 all that part (and being the 
south half) of Neosho county, now com- 



Lane. 


prising Labette, was sparsely populated. 

In the spring of 1866 there was a great rush 
of immigration to that locality, and the new 
settlers proceeded to organize a government 
of their own. They gave the name Labette 
(then written La Bette), and called a con¬ 
vention, nominated a full set of county 
officers, and a representative to the State 
Legislature, and elected them at the Novem¬ 
ber election, and started a county govern¬ 
ment—for all of which no authority of law 
whatever existed. The “Representative” 
so elected was Charles H. Bent, who re¬ 
ported at Topeka with a petition, “signed 
by John G. Rice and 224 other citizens of 
Labette county,” asking that Mr. Bent be 
admitted to a seat in the House. He was admitted, and afterwards 
introduced a Bill to “organize and define the 
boundaries of Labette county,” which passed, 
and was approved the 7th of February, 1867. 
The word La Bette is French, and signifies 
“the beet.” 

Lane. —Organized June 3,1886. Boundaries 
defined in 1873. County seat, Dighton. In 
honor of Senator James H. Lane, of Kansas. 

Leavenworth.— Organized in 1855. County 
seat, Leavenworth. From Fort Leavenworth, the 
most important military post in the West. It was 
established in 1827, and was named after Colonel 
Henry H. Leavenworth, of the United States Army. 


ipoo City 



Leavenworth. 































314 


APPENDIX. 





Seaman 


Orchar< 


Cadmus 


Parker^ 


.Goodrich 


•BoicouitT \ Trading’ 
p\if; Post 


^^ntrcviUe^ *F*rim A 

/OakwooST^# Kossuth ; / 

.Vance' *;.'.Wall Street/ 

Critzer • *.’■ 


leasanton’ 


MOUND 

•/.CITY. 


Linton 


Hue Mound 


Prescott, 


Cedron Yorktowii 


Itarnari 


•Allamead 


Bacon 


*' ^Pottersburg 
V ^Denmark 


Orworth 


Pleasant A"alley 


Monument 


Page^Cjtv 

Winonqy'V'- 


Oakley 


Lisbon 


Me Allaster 


RUSSELL SPR S 

uiTr\. 


Edith 


0 Ramona^ X 

Kuh n brook ■ 

'■ Tampa^^R^ost®^' 


Litjcolrivillc 


Durham 


C^»AValdeck 
A :: \.ch't'' ' 


: Younitown 
ARIQNv. 


Ore swell. 


Aulnr, 


Florcrn 


Goessel 


Jmrut rs\ 
llampsoni 


Burnsi 


Rosette 


Orbitcllo 


Lone W alnut 
Margaret 


Springs 


Lincoln. — Organized in 1870. 
County seat, Lincoln. Named in 
honor of Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth 
President of the United States, and 
author of the emancipation proclama¬ 
tion, who was assassinated April 14, 
1865. 

Linn. —Organized in 1855. County 
seat, Mound City. Named for Lewis 


Lincoln. 


F. Linn, a distinguished United 
States Senator from Missouri, who 
died in 1843, in office. He was a 
colleague of Hon. Thos. H. Benton. 

Logan. —Organized September 17, 
1887. County seat, Russell Springs. 


Logan. 


Air 


Linn. 

By an Act of the Legislature in 1887, 
the name of the then unorganized 
county of St. John was changed to 
Logan, in honor of the late General 
John A. Logan. 

Lyon.— Organized in 1860. County 
seat, Emporia. 

Named by the first Leg¬ 
islature, Breckinridge, 
in honor of John C. 

Breckinridge, United 
State s Senator from 
Kentucky, and who af¬ 
terward became Vice- 
President of the United 
States in 1856. Name 
changed in 1862 to Lyon, 
in honor of General Na¬ 
thaniel Lyon, who was 
killed while in command 
of the Union Army at 


Marion. 






























































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


315 


the battle of Wilson’s creek, Mis¬ 
souri, August 10, 1861. 

Marion. — Organized in 1860. 
County seat, Marion. Named for 
Marion county, Ohio, which was so- 
called in memory of General Francis 
Marion, of revolutionary fame. 

Marshall. —Organized in 1855. 
County seat, Marysville. After Gen- 


Marshall. 

eral Frank J. Marshall, who estab¬ 
lished a ferry on the Big Blue at the 
crossing of the old Independence- 
Calif ornia road in 1849. He was a 
prominent member of the first Leg¬ 
islature, and had his own name ap¬ 


plied to the county. Marysville was 
declared the permanent county seat by 
the Legislature in 1860. 

McPherson. —Organized, 1870. County 
seat, McPherson. In honor of Major- 
General James B. McPherson, United 


Meade. 

States Volunteers, who was killed in 
battle at Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864. 

Meade. —Organized November 3, 
1885. County seat, Meade. Named 
in honor of Major-General George 
G. Meade, United States Army, who 
died in 1872. 

Miami. —Organized in 1855 under 
the name of Lykins. County seat, 





McPherson. 



Miami. 








































316 


APPENDIX. 



Paola. In honor of Dr. David Lykins, 
who was a missionary among- the 
Miamis. He was also a member of 
the first Territorial Council. Name 
changed in 1861 to Miami, after the 
tribe of Indians. 

Mitchell. —Organized in 1870. 
County seat, Beloit. In honor of 
William D. Mitchell, who entered the 


Union army as a private in Company K, 
Second Kansas Cavalry; was promoted 
to Captain in the Second Kentucky Cav¬ 
alry, and killed March 10, 1865, at Mon¬ 
roe’s Cross Roads, N. C. 

Montgomery. — Organized in 1869. 
County seat, Independence. Named for 
Gen. Richard Montgomery, born in Ire¬ 
land, December 2,1736; was an officer of 




Montgomery. 

distinction in the British Army; re¬ 
signed and settled in New York State 
in 1773; was appointed one of the 
eight Generals to command the Revo¬ 
lutionary army of America, in 1775; 
was killed in the attack on Quebec, 
December 31, 1775, shouting, “Death 
or liberty!” 


Morris. —Organized as Wise in 
1855. County seat, Council Grove. 
Originally named for Henry A. Wise, 
who was Governor of Virginia during 
the John Brown seizure of Harper’s 
Ferry. The execution of that “grand 
old man,” at Charlestown, December 
2, 1859, was one of the last acts of 
Wise’s administration. Name was 
changed to Morris in February, 1859, 
in honor of Thomas Morris, a United 



~x - H 

• ' • ' RICHFIELD® 
^-•Westolr. 


A 




TiiloJl! .Morion# 


—'fU ;; 


'•Cess ' 

• ?Viroqua p> 

pcmd<=> lond 


Morton. 


























DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


317 


States Senator from Ohio in 1832, who 
distinguished himself as an opponent of 
slavery. He died in 1844. 

Morton. —Organized November 18,1886. 

County seat, Richfield. Was named in 
honor of Honorable Oliver P. Morton, of 

Indiana. 

Nemaha.— 

Organized in 
1855. County 
seat, Seneca. 

Named from 
a river in Ne¬ 
braska — the 
Nemaha, one 

of whose branches drains the northern 
half of the county. 

N e o sh o . — Organized in 1864. 
County seat, Erie. The county was 
originally named Dorn (see Labette), 
and changed in 1861 to Neosho, after 
the Neosho river, which traverses the 
county from northwest to southeast. 

The name was given to the river by 
the Osages. 

Ness. — First Organized in 1873. 

County seat, Ness City. Disorganized 
in 1874; reorganized in 1880. Named 
in honor of Noah V. Ness, Corporal 
of Company G, Seventh Kansas Cav¬ 
alry, who 
diedAug. 

22, 1864, 

at Abbeyville, Miss., of wounds re¬ 
ceived in action August 19, 1864. 

Norton. —Organized in 1872. County 
seat, Norton. In memory of Orloif 
Norton, Captain of Company L, Fif¬ 
teenth Kansas Cavalry, killed by gue¬ 
rillas at Cane Hill, Ark., October 29, 
1865. In 1873 the county was repre¬ 
sented by one N. H. Billings, who, in 
consequence of his peculiarities, be¬ 
came a sort of butt of the Legislature. 





Neosho. 



tNeiich atel ATnierib a Qy 


Nemaha. 


Norton. 





























318 


APPENDIX. 


A member of the Senate at the time had 
the name of Norton changed to Billings, 
in two lines hidden in a paragraph of a 
Bill fixing the boundaries of certain coun¬ 
ties. The next Legislature restored the 
name of Nor¬ 
ton. 

Osage.— 

Organized 
as Weller 
county in 
1855; name 
changed to 
Osage in 
1859. Origi¬ 
nally named for John B. Weller, of 
Ohio, member of Congress, and Gov¬ 
ernor of that State; also Governor of 
California and Senator, Minister to 
Mexico, etc. The name Osage comes 
from the Osage river, the headwaters of which stream drain 
almost the entire county. Lyndon is the county seat. 

Osborne. —Organized in 1871. County seat, Osborne. Named 

in honor of Vincent B. Osborne, 
Private of Company A, Second Kan¬ 
sas Cavalry, who lost his right leg 
January 17,1865, on the steamer Anna 
Jacobs , at Joy’s Ford, on the Arkan¬ 
sas river. 

Ottawa. —Created in 1860, and or¬ 
ganized in 1866. County seat, Min¬ 
neapolis. Named for the tribe of 
Ottawas. 

Pawnee. — Organized in 1872. 
County seat, Larned. Named for the 
once powerful tribe of Pawnee In¬ 
dians, the area of this county having 
been included in their original hunt¬ 
ing grounds. 

Phillips. —Organized in 1872. 

County seat, Philhpsburg. Named 
in memory of William Phillips, a 
Free-State martyr, murdered September 1, 

1856, in Leavenworth. 





Osborne. 



Osage. 


Pawnee. 











































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


319 


■ ; ■ Nance* ' 
Pleasant Green 



Phillips. 


Pottawatomie.— Organized in 1856. 
County seat, Westmoreland. Named 
for the Pottawatomie Indians, whose 
reservation at the opening of Kansas 
Territory for settlement, and for years 
afterward, embraced a large portion 
of the geographical area of the county. 

Pratt. —First organized in 1873. 
County seat, Iuka, but not recognized 
in consequence of frauds. Pratt is now 
the county seat. Organized constitu¬ 
tionally in 1879. Named in memory 
of Caleb 
Pratt, 

Second 


Lieutenant of Company D, First Kan¬ 
sas Infantry, killed in action August 
10, 1861, at Wilson’s creek, Mo. 

Rawlins. — Organized in 1881. 

County seat, Atwood. Named in 

memory of 
Gen. John 
A. Rawlins, 
who was a 
staff officer 

of General Grant, and went into his 
cabinet, when elected President, as 
Secretary of War. 




Pottawatomie. 


Pratt. 


Reno. —Organized in 1872. County 
seat, Hutchinson. In memory of 




Rawlins. 


Jesse L. Reno, Captain United States 
army, and Major-General of volun¬ 
teers, who was killed in battle, Sept. 
14, 1862, at South Mountain, Md. 


Reno. 










































320 


APPENDIX. 



Republic. — Organized in 1868. 
County seat, Belleville. Received 
its name from the Republican river, 
which extends through the county. 
The river was so called because 
many years ago the valley of that 
stream was the seat of the ‘‘Pawnee 
Republic,” a designation given to a 
principal division of the Pawnee In¬ 
dians, or Fanis , as they were origi¬ 
nally known. 





Rice. 


Rice. —County seat, Lyons. Named 
in memory of Samuel A. Rice, Brigadier-General United States 
volunteers: killed April 30, 1864, at 
Jenkins’ Ferry, Ark. 

Riley. —Organized in 1855. County 
seat, Manhattan. 

Received its name 
from the adjacent 
military post, which 
was established in 
1853, and called 
Fort Riley, in honor 
of General Riley , of 
the United 
States army. 

Rooks. —Organized in 1872. County 
seat, Stockton. In memory of John C. 
Rooks, private of Company I, Eleventh 
Kansas Infantry, who died December 11, 
1862, at Fayetteville, Ark., of wounds 
received in the battle of Prairie 
Grove, December 7, 1862. 

Rush.— 

Organized 
in 1874. 

County 
seat, La- 
Crosse. 

In memory 
of Alexan¬ 
der Rush, 

Captain of 
Company 
H, Second 


Riley. 


Rooks. 


Rash. 


















































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


321 





Colored Infantry, killed April 3,1864, 
at Jenkins Ferry, Ark. 

Russell. — Organized in 1872. 
County seat, Russell. In memory of 
Alva P. Russell, Captain Company K, 
Second Kansas Cavalry, who died 
December 12, 1862, in field hospital 
near Prairie Grove, Ark., of wounds 
received in battle December 7, 1862, 
at Prairie Grove. 

Saline. —Organized in 1859. County 
seat, Salina. Named for the Saline 


Russell. 


river, whose waters drain a large area 
of the county. 


Saline. 


Scott. —Or¬ 
ganized Jan¬ 
uary 29,1886. 
Scott is the 
County seat. 
Boundaries 
defined in 
1873. In honor 
of Major-General Winfield Scott, United 
States army, hero of the Mexican war. 

Sedgwick. —Organized in 1870. County 

seat, Wichita. 
In memory of 
John Sedg¬ 
wick, United 
States army, 
Maj or-Gen- 
eral of volun¬ 
teers, killed in 
battle, May 9, 
1864, at Spott- 
sylvania, Va. 

Seward.— 

Organized 
January 17, 1886. County seat, Liberal. 
Boundaries defined in 1873. In honor of 
Wm. H. Seward, Governor and United 


Scott. 


Sedgwick. 


Seward. 































322 


APPENDIX. 



States Senator of New York, and Secre¬ 
tary of State under Abraham Lincoln. 

Shawnee. —Organized in 1855. County 
seat, Topeka. Was carved out of what 
was, before the treaty of 1854, Shaw¬ 
nee Indian lands—hence the name. 
General H. J. Strickler, of Tecumseh, 
who was a member of the council 
in 1855, and also of the Joint Com¬ 
mittee on Counties, claimed Shawnee 


Shawnee. 


for the name of his county, a prefer¬ 
ence stoutly contended for by the 
Reverend Thomas Johnson for the 
county in which the Legislature was 
sitting, but the committee yielded to 
General Strickler, and, without solici¬ 
tation, complimented Mr. Johnson by 
conferring his own name upon his 
county. 



. ; J.w■. . -y T -, 

I.ambor.11 

• ’ r ' ' I. 1 RlancluT 


'.•.To pi and f 



Sheridan. 


She pi dan. —Organized in 1880. 
County seat, Hoxie. Named in honor 
of Lieutenant-General Philip H. 
Sheridan, United States army. 

Sherman. —Organized September 
20,1886. County seat, Goodland. In 


Sherman. 


T. Sherman, 


honor of General W. 

United States army. 

Smith. —Organized in 1872. County 
seat, Smith Center. In memory of 
Nathan Smith, Major of Second Colo¬ 
rado Volunteers, killed October 23, 
1864, at battle of the Little Blue, Mo. 

Stafford. —Organized in 1879. 
County seat, St. John. In memory 



Smith. 





























DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES. 


323 


of Lewis Stafford, Captain of Company E, 
First Kansas Infantry ? who was accidentally 
killed at Young’s Point, La., January 31, 
1863. 

Stanton. — Organized June 17, 1887. 
County seat, Johnson. This county was 
named after Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary 
of war under President Lincoln. 




Stafford. 


Stevens. —Organized August 3, 
1886. County seat, Hugoton. Was 


Stanton. 

named after the late distinguished 
statesman, Thaddeus Stevens. 

S u m n e P . — Organized in 1871. 
County seat, Wellington. In honor of 



>-Dermbt£fc’v: 

r\ 


/ 

Zella # : : : • 

JS '■■'m'-'' 

Woodsdale” 

Moscow*// 

•VC1 arence • "• 


HUGOTON•. • 

•V.vN iagara*'- 

./Lafayette 


Stevens. 


Charles Sumner, the distinguished 
Massachusetts Senator. In 1854 he 


Sumner. 

was a leader in the opposition to ex¬ 
tension of slavery into Kansas, as 
proposed in the Bill to organize the 
Territory. 

Thomas. — Organized October 8, 
1885. County seat, Colby. In honor 



Thomas. 




































324 


APPENDIX. 





of Major-General George H. Thomas, 
United States army, who died in 1870. 

Trego. —Organized in 1879. County 
seat, Wakeeney. In memory of Edgar 
P. Trego, Captain of Company H, 
Eighth Kansas Infantry, killed Sep¬ 
tember 19, 1863, at Chickamauga, 
Tenn. 

Wabaunsee.— Organized as Rich¬ 
ardson, in 1859. County seat, Alma. 
The county was created in 1855. 
Colonel “Dick” 


Richardson, of 
Trego. Illinois, for 

whom the county 

was first named, was the leader in the 
House of Representatives on the Demo¬ 
cratic side in the debate on the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill. In February, 1859, the 
name was changed to Wabaunsee, that 

being the 
name of a 
chief of the 


Pottawatomie 
Indians. 

, TT . . , Wabaunsee. . 

Washingttpn,— 

Organized in 1860. County seat, 
Washington. Named in honor or 
George Washington, the first Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. 


Wichita.— 

Organized 
December 24, 
Washington. 1886* County 

seat, Leoti. 
Boundaries defined in 1873. Wichita was 
the name of a confederacy of Caddoan 
Indians. 

Wallace. —Organized in 1888. County 
seat, Sharon Springs. Named after Gen¬ 
eral Lew. Wallace, author of “Ben Hur.” 

Wilson. — Organized in 1865. County 
seat, Fredonia. This county originally 


Wichita. 





































DESCRIPTION OF COUNTIES 


325 


extended to the south line of the State, and was named in honor 
of Colonel Hiero T. Wilson, who lived in Fort Scott from 
September, 1843. He was the first white person to settle there. 




Woodson. —Organized in 1855. County seat, Yates Center. 
Named in honor of Daniel Woodson, who was Secretary of the 
Territory, and for some time acting Governor, after the resigna¬ 
tion of Governor Shannon, in 1850. 

Wyandotte. —Organized in 1855. County seat, Kansas City 
(formerly Wyandotte). Named after the Indian tribe of that name. 




Connor 


Pome toy 


KANSAS CITY KAN? 

\ b. C- Arm strong 

Mimeitvj x* ^ ^ v"* 


G Argenj/int 
Rosed a \vr . 


orris 


Woodson. 


Wyandotte. 





































ORGANIC ACT. 


ORGANIZATION OF KANSAS TERRITORY. 


On 30th May, 1854, Congress Passed an Act Entitled “An 
Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and, 
Kansas.” 

The Organic Act took effect on its approval, 30th May, and on 
30th June, 1854, President Pierce appointed officers for Kansas, 
as follows: Andrew H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, as Governor; 
Daniel Woodson, of Virginia, as Secretary; Andrew J. Isaacs, 
of Louisiana, as United States District Attorney; Madison 
Brown, of Maryland, as Chief Justice; and Saunders W. 
Johnston, of Ohio, and Rush Elmore, of Alabama, as Associate 
Justices. Judge Brown refused the appointment, and Samuel D. 
Lecompte, of Maryland, was appointed Chief Justice on 3d 
October, 1854. 

The first eighteen sections of the Kansas-Nebraska Act relate 
solely to the Territory of Nebraska. The material portions of the 
sections of said Act relating to Kansas Territory, are as 
follows: 

§ 1. (Sec. 19.) All that part of the Territory of the United 
States, included within the following limits, except such portions 
thereof as are hereinafter expressly exempted from the operations 
of this Act, to-wit, beginning at a point on the western boundary 
of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of 


320 




ORGANIC ACT. 


327 


north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to 
the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north on said 
boundary to latitude thirty-eight; thence following said boundary 
westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the 
summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said s um mit 
to the fortieth parallel of latitude; thence east on said parallel 
to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south 
with the western boundary of said State to the place of beginning, 
be, and the same is, hereby created into a temporary government, 
by the name of the Territory of Kansas; and when admitted as a 
State or States, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, 
shall be received into the Union with or without slavery, as their 
constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission; 
provided, that nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to 
inhibit the Government of the United States from dividing said 
Territory into two or more Territories, in such manner, and at 
such times, as Congress shall deem convenient and proper, or from 
attaching any portion of said Territory to any other State or 
Territory of the United States; provided, further, that nothing in 
this Act contained shall be construed to impair the rights of 
person or property now pertaining to the Indians in said Ter¬ 
ritory, so long as such rights shall remain unextinguished by 
treaty between the United States and such Indians, or to include 
any Territory which, by treaty with an Indian tribe is not, with¬ 
out the consent of said tribe, to be included within the Territorial 
limits or jurisdiction of any State or Territory; but all such 
Territory shall be excepted out of the boundaries, and constitute 
no part of the Territory of Kansas, until said tribe shall signify 
their assent to the President of the United States, to be included 
within the said Territory of Kansas, or to affect the authority of 
the Government of the United States to make any regulation 
respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other rights, by 
treaty, law, or otherwise, which it would have been competent to 
the Government to make if this Act had never passed. 

\ 2. [Sec. 20 provides for the appointment of a Territorial 
Governor, and defines his powers and duties.] 

§ 3. [Sec. 21 provides for the appointment of a Secretary of 
said Territory, and defines his powers and duties.] 

\ 4. (Sec. 22.) The legislative power and authority of said 
Territory shall be vested in the Governor and a legislative 
assembly. .The legislative assembly shall consist of a council and 
house of representatives. The council shall consist of thirteen 
members, having the qualifications of voters, as hereinafter 
prescribed, whose term of service shall continue two years. # The 
house of representatives shall, at its first session, consist of 


328 


APPENDIX. 


twenty-six members, possessing the same qualifications as pre¬ 
scribed for members of the council, and whose term of service 
shall continue one year. The number of representatives may be 
increased by the legislative assembly, from time to time, in pro¬ 
portion to the increase of qualified voters;■ provided, that the whole 
number shall never exceed thirty-nine. * * * 

[This section then provides that the Governor shall cause a cen¬ 
sus to be taken before the first election, and that he shall make an 
apportionment declaring the number of members of each house 
to which each county or district shall be entitled, and “the first 
election shall be held at such time and places,” and the first 
“legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as 
the Governor shall appoint; but hereafter the time, place and 
manner of holding and conducting all elections, and the appor¬ 
tioning the representation in the several counties or districts to 
the council and house of representatives, shall be prescribed by 
law, as well as the day of the commencement of the regular ses¬ 
sions of the legislative assembly.”] 

§ 5. [Sec. 23 prescribes the qualifications of persons entitled to 
vote at the first election, which persons are made eligible to office 
at such first election.] 

\ 6. (Sec. 24.) The legislative power of the Territory shall 
extend to all rightful subjects of legislation consistent with the 
Constitution of the United States and the provisions of this act; 
but no law shall be passed interfering with the primary disposal 
of the soil; no tax shall be imposed upon the property of the 
United States; nor shall the lands or other property of non-resi¬ 
dents be taxed higher than the lands or other property of residents. 
Every bill which shall have passed the council and house of rep¬ 
resentatives of the said Territory shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the Governor of the Territory; if he approve, he 
shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to 
the house in which it originated, who shall enter the objections at 
large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such 
reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the 
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved 
by two-thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such 
cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and 
nays, to be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within, three days 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the assembly, by adjournment, prevent its return, in which case 
it shall not be a law. 


ORGANIC ACT. 329 

§ 7. [Sec. 25 provides for the appointment of township, district 
and county officers.] 

\ 8. [Sec. 26 declares that no member of the legislative assem¬ 
bly shall hold or be appointed to any office which shall have been 
created, or the salary or emoluments of which shall have been 
increased, while he was a member, during the term for which he 
was elected, etc.] 

\ 9. (Sec. 27.) The judicial power of said Territory shall be 
vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, and in 
justices of the peace. 

The supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two asso¬ 
ciate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and 
who shall hold a term at the seat of government of said Territory 
annually; and they shall hold their offices during the period of 
four years, and until their successors shall be appointed and quali¬ 
fied. The supreme court, or the justices thereof, shall appoint 
its own clerk, and every clerk shall hold his office at the pleasure 
of the court for which he shall have been appointed. 

The said Territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, 
and a district court shall be held in each of said districts by one 
of the justices of the supreme court at such times and places as 
may be prescribed by law; and the said judges shall, after their 
appointments, respectively, reside in the districts which shall be 
assigned them; and each of the said district courts shall have and 
exercise the same jurisdiction in all cases arising under the Con¬ 
stitution and laws of the United States as is vested in the circuit 
and district courts of the United States. Each district court, or 
the judge thereof, shall appoint its clerk, who shall also be the 
register in chancery, and shall keep his office at the place where 
the court may be held. 

The jurisdiction of the several courts herein provided for, both 
appellate and original, and that of the probate courts and of 
justices of the peace, shall be as limited by law, provided, that 
justices of the peace shall not have jurisdiction of any matter in 
controversy when the title or boundaries of land may be in dis¬ 
pute, or where the debt or sum claimed shall exceed one hundred 
dollars; and the said supreme and district courts, respectively, 
shall possess chancery as well as common-law jurisdiction. 

Writs of error, bills of exception and appeal shall be allowed in 
all cases from the final decisions of said district courts to the 
supreme court, under such regulations as may be prescribed by 
law; but in no case removed to the supreme court shall trial by 
jury be allowed in said court. 

Writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of said 
supreme court shall be allowed, and may be taken to the supreme 


330 


APPENDIX. 


court of the United States, in the same manner and under the 
same regulations as from the circuit courts of the United States, 
where the value of the property or the amount in controversy, to 
be ascertained by the oath or affirmation of either party or other 
competent witness, shall exceed one thousand dollars. * * * 

$ 10. [Sec. 28 extends the provisions of the “fugitive slave 
acts” of 1793 and 1850 to Kansas Territory.] 

3 11. [Sec. 29 provides for the appointment of a United States 
District Attorney and a United States Marshal for said Territory.] 

$ 12. [Sec. 30 provides that the Governor, Secretary, Chief Justice 
and Associate Justices, Attorney and Marshal, shall be nominated 
and, by and with the advice and consent of the seriate, appointed 
by the President of the United States, and for their qualifying; 
fixes the salaries of the Governor, Judges, Attorney, Marshal, and 
Secretary; and prescribes the compensation of members of the 
legislature.] 

$ 13. (Sec. 31.) The seat of government of said Territory is 
hereby located temporarily at Fort Leavenworth, and such por¬ 
tions of the public buildings as may not be actually used and 
needed for military purposes may be occupied and used under the 
direction of the Governor and legislative assembly for such public 
purposes as may be required under the provisions of this act. 

§ 14. [Sec. 32 provides that a delegate to the house of repre¬ 
sentatives of the United States may be elected by the voters 
qualified to elect members of the legislative assembly; declares 
the first Territorial election shall be held at such time and places 
and be conducted in such manner as the Governor shall appoint 
and direct; but all subsequent elections shall be held at such times, 
places and manner as shall be prescribed by law. And then 
follows as part of § 32 the famous declaration of “squatter sover¬ 
eignty,” (then called “the great principle of non-intervention,”) 
as follows: 

“The Constitution and all laws of the United States which are not locally 
inapplicable shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory 
of Kansas as elsewhere within the United States, except the eighth section 
of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, 
approved March 6, 1820, which, being inconsistent with the principle of 
non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, 
as recognized by the legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise 
measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void—it being the true 
intent and meaning of this act, not to legislate slavery into any Territory 
or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof per¬ 
fectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own 
way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States; provided, that 
nothing therein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any 
law or regulation which may have existed prior to the act of 6th of March, 
1820, either protecting, establishing, prohibiting or abolishing slavery.” 


ORGANIC ACT. 


331 


§ 15. [Sec. 33 declares that money shall be appropriated, as has 
been customary, for the erection of suitable buildings at the seat 
of government, and for the purchase of a library, to be kept at 
the seat of government for the use of the Governor, legislative 
assembly, judges of the supreme court, etc.] 

§ 16. [Sec. 34 reserves sections sixteen and thirty-six in each 
township for the purpose of being applied to schools in said Ter¬ 
ritory, etc.] 

\ 17. [Sec. 35 relates to judicial districts, the assignment of 
judges, fixing terms of and places of holding courts, etc.] 

§ 18. [Sec. 36 requires all officers appointed by the President, 
by and with the advice and consent of the senate for the Territory 
of Kansas, to give security for moneys that may be entrusted with 
them for disbursement.] 

£ 19. (Sec. 37.) All treaties, laws and other engagements 
made by the Government of the United States with the Indian 
tribes inhabiting the Territories embraced within this act shall be 
faithfully and rigidly observed, notwithstanding anything con¬ 
tained in this act; and that the existing agencies and superintend¬ 
encies of said Indians be continued with the same powers and 
duties which are now prescribed by law ? except that the President 
of the United States may, at his discretion, change the location of 
the office of superintendent. 

Approved May 30, 1854. 


AN ACT 


FOR THE 


ADMISSION OF KANSAS INTO THE UNION. 


Whereas ? The people of the Territory of Kansas, by their repre¬ 
sentatives in convention assembled, at Wyandotte, in said 
Territory, on the twenty-ninth day of July, one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-nine, did form for themselves a Constitution 
and State Government, Republican in form, which was ratified 
and adopted by the people at an election held for that purpose 
on Tuesday, the fourth day of October, one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-nine, and the said convention has, in their 
name and behalf, asked the Congress of the United States to 
admit the said Territory into the Union as a State, on an equal 
footing with the other States; therefore, 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled , That the State of 
Kansas shall be, and is hereby declared to be, one of the United 
States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing 
with the original States in all respects whatever. And the said 
State shall consist of all the territory included within the follow¬ 
ing boundaries, to wit: Beginning at a point on the western 
boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh par¬ 
allel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said 
parallel to the twenty-fifth meridian of longitude west from Wash¬ 
ington; thence north on said meridian to the fortieth parallel of 
latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of 

332 



ADMISSION INTO THE UNION. 


333 


the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary 
of said State to the place of beginning; provided that nothing 
contained in the said Constitution respecting the boundary of said 
State shall be construed to impair the rights of person or property 
now pertaining to the Indians in said territory, so long as such 
rights shall remain unextinguished by treaty between the United 
States and such Indians, or to include any territory which, by 
treaty with such Indian tribe, is not, without the consent of such 
tribe, to be included within the territorial limits or jurisdiction of 
any State or Territory; but all such territory shall be excepted 
out of the boundaries, and constitute no part of the State of 
Kansas, until said tribe shall signify their assent to the President 
of the United States, to be included within said State, or to affect 
the authority of the Government of the United States to make any 
regulation respecting such Indians, their lands, property, or other 
rights, by treaty, law or otherwise, which it would have been com¬ 
petent to make if this Act had never passed. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted , That until the next general 
apportionment of representatives, the State of Kansas shall be 
entitled to one representative in the House of Representatives of 
the United States. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this Act shall 
be construed as an assent by Congress to all or any of the propo¬ 
sitions or claims contained in the ordinance of said Constitution of 
the people of Kansas, or in the resolutions thereto attached; but 
the following propositions are hereby offered to the said people of 
Kansas, for their free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted, 
shall be obligatory on the United States, and upon the said State 
of Kansas, to wit: 

First —That sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six, in every 
township of public lands in said State, and where either of said 
sections or any part thereof has been sold or otherwise been dis¬ 
posed of, other lands, equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may 
be, shall be granted to said State for the use of schools. 

Second —That seventy-two sections of land shall be set apart and 
reserved for the use and support of a State University, to be 
selected by the Governor of said State, subject to the approval of 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and to be appropri¬ 
ated and applied in such manner as the Legislature of said State 
may prescribe for the purpose aforesaid, but for no other purpose. 

Third —That ten entire sections of land to be selected by the 
Governor of said State, in legal subdivisions, shall be granted to 
the said State for the purpose of completing the public buildings, 
or for the erection of others at the seat of government, under the 
direction of the legislature thereof. 


334 


APPENDIX. 


Fourth —That all salt springs within said State, not exceeding 
twelve in number, with six sections of land adjoining or as contig¬ 
uous as may be to each, shall be granted to said State for its use, 
the same to be selected by the Governor thereof within one year 
after the admission of said State, and when so selected to be used 
or disposed of on such terms, conditions and regulations as the 
legislature shall direct; provided that no salt spring or land, the 
right whereof is now vested in any individual or individuals, or 
which may be hereafter confirmed or adjudged to any individual 
or individuals, shall, by this article, be granted to said State. 

Fifth —That five per centum of the net proceeds of sales of all 
public lands lying within said State, which shall be sold by con¬ 
gress after the admission of said State into the Union, after 
deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to 
said State for the purpose of making public roads and internal 
improvements, or for other purposes, as the legislature shall direct; 
provided, that the foregoing propositions hereinbefore offered are 
on the condition that the people of Kansas shall provide by an 
ordinance, irrevocable without the consent of the united States, 
that said State shall never interfere with the primary disposal of 
the soil within the same by the United States, or with any regula¬ 
tions congress may find necessary for securing the title in said 
soil to bona fide purchasers thereof. 

Sixth —And that the said State shall never tax the lands or the 
property of the United States in said State. In case any of the 
lands herein granted to the State of Kansas have heretofore been 
confirmed to the Territory of Kansas for the purposes specified in 
this act, the amount so confirmed shall be deducted from the 
quantity specified in this act. 

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted , That from and after the 
admission of the State of Kansas, as hereinbefore provided, all 
the laws of the United States, which are not locally inapplicable, 
shall have the same force and effect within that State as in other 
States of the Union; and the said State is hereby constituted a 
judicial district of the United States, within which a district court, 
with the like powers and jurisdiction as the district court of the 
United States for the district of Minnesota, shall be established; 
the Judge, Attorney and Marshal of the United States, for the said 
district of Kansas, shall reside within the same, and shall be enti¬ 
tled to the same compensation as the Judge, Attorney and Marshal 
of the district of Minnesota; and in all cases of appeal or writ of 
error heretofore prosecuted, and now pending in the supreme court 
of the United States upon any record from the supreme court of 
Kansas Territory, the mandate of execution or order of further 
proceeding shall be directed by the supreme court of the United 


ADMISSION INTO THE UNION. 


335 


States to the district court of the United States for the district of 
Kansas, or to the supreme court of the State of Kansas, as the 
nature of such appeal or writ of error may require; and each of 
those courts shall be the successor of the supreme court of Kansas 
Territory as to all such cases, with full power to hear and deter¬ 
mine the same, and to award mesne or final process therein. 

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted , That the Judge of the dis¬ 
trict court for the district of Kansas shall hold two regular terms 
of said court annually at the seat of government of the said State, 
to commence on the second Mondays of April and October in each 
year. 

Approved 29th January, 1861. 


Assent of State to Propositions of Congress. 


Chapter 6 , Laws of 1862 . 

Joint Resolution of the Legislature of the State of Kansas, 
Accepting the Terms Imposed by Congress Upon the Admis¬ 
sion of the State of Kansas Into the Union. 


Be it resolved by the legislature of the State of Kansas , That the 
propositions contained in the act of congress, entitled “An Act for 
the admission of Kansas into the Union,” are hereby accepted, 
ratified, and confirmed, and shall remain irrevocable, without the 
consent of the United States. And it is hereby ordained, that this 
State shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil 
within the same by the United States, or with any regulations 
congress may find necessary for securing the title to said soil, to 
bona fide purchasers thereof; and no tax shall be imposed on lands 
belonging to the United States. 

Approved January 20, 1862. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE 
OF KANSAS. 


Adopted at Wyandotte, July 29,1859. Ratified by the People, 
October 4,1859. Went into Operation, January 29,1861. 


With all Amendments Adopted Prior to January 1 , 1899 . 


Preamble .—Boundaries . 

We, the People of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our 
civil and religious privileges, in order to insure the full enjoyment 
of our rights as American citizens, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution of the State of Kansas, with the following 
boundaries, to wit: Beginning at a point on the western boundary 
of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of north 
latitude crosses the same; thence running west on said parallel to 
the twenty-fifth meridian of longitude west from Washington; 
thence north on said meridian to the fortieth parallel of north lati¬ 
tude ; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the 
State of Missouri; thence south, with the western boundary of said 
State, to the place of beginning. 


BILL OF RIGHTS. 

Section 1. All men are possessed of equal and inalienable 
natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. 

Sec. 2. All political power is inherent in the people, and all 
free governments are founded on their authority, and are insti¬ 
tuted for their equal protection and benefit. No special privileges 

336 





CONSTITUTION. 


337 


or immunities shall ever be granted by the legislature, which may 
not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the same body; and this 
power shall be exercised by no other tribunal or agency. 

Sec. 3. The people have the right to assemble in a peaceable 
manner, to consult for their common good, to instruct their repre¬ 
sentatives, and to petition the Government, or any department 
thereof, for the redress of grievances. 

Sec. 4. The people have the right to bear arms for their defense 
and security; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous 
to liberty, and shall not be tolerated, and the military shall be in 
strict subordination to the civil power. 

Sec. 5. The right of trial by jury shall be inviolate. 

Sec. 6. There shall be no slavery in this State j and no involun¬ 
tary servitude, except for the punishment of crime, whereof the 
party shall have been duly convicted. 

Sec. 7. The right to worship God, according to the dictates of 
conscience, shall never be infringed; nor shall any person be 
compelled to attend or support any form of worship; nor shall any 
control of, or interference with the rights of conscience be 
permitted, nor any preference be given by law to any religious 
establishment or mode of worship. No religious test or property 
qualification shall be required for any office of public trust, nor 
for any vote at any election; nor shall any person be incompetent 
to testify on account of religious belief. 

Sec. 8. The right to the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless the public safety requires it in case of invasion 
or rebellion. 

Sec. 9. All persons shall be bailable, by sufficient sureties, 
except for capital offenses, where proof is evident or the pre¬ 
sumption great. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor 
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishment inflicted. 

Sec. 10. In all prosecutions, the accused shall be allowed to 
appear and defend in person, or by counsel; to demand the nature 
and cause of the accusation against him, to meet the witness face 
to face, and to have compulsory process to compel the attendance 
of witnesses in his behalf, and a speedy public trial by an 
impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is 
alleged to have been committed. No person shall be a witness 
agamst himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense. 

Sec. 11. - The liberty of the press shall be inviolate; and all 
persons may freely speak, write, or publish their sentiments on 
all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of such right; and in 
all civil or criminal actions for libel, the truth may be given in 
evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear that the alleged libelous 


338 


APPENDIX. 


matter was published for justifiable ends, the accused party shall 
be acquitted. 

Sec. 12. No person shall be transported from the State for any 
offense committed within the same; and no conviction in the State 
shall work a corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate. 

Sec. 13. Treason shall consist only in levying war against the 
State, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and comfort. 
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the evidence of 
two witnesses to the overt act, or confession in open court. 

Sec. 14. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house without the consent of the occupant; nor in time of war, 
except as prescribed by law. 

Sec. 15. The right of the people to be secure in their persons 
and property against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall be 
inviolate; and no warrant shall issue but on probable cause, sup¬ 
ported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to 
be searched, and the persons or property to be seized. 

Sec. 16. No person shall be imprisoned for debt except in cases 
of fraud. 

Sec. 17. No distinction shall ever be made between citizens of 
the State of Kansas and the citizens of other States and Territo¬ 
ries of the United States in reference to the purchase, enjoyment 
or descent of property. The rights of aliens in reference to the 
purchase, enjoyment or descent of property may be regulated by 
law. 

Sec. 18. All persons, for injuries suffered in person, reputation 
or property, shall have remedy by due course of law, and justice 
administered without delay. 

Sec. 19. No hereditary emoluments, honors or privileges, shall 
ever be granted or conferred by the State. 

Sec. 20. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to 
impair or deny others retained by the people; and all powers not 
herein delegated remain with the people. 


ARTICLE 1. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section 1 . The executive department shall consist of a Gover¬ 
nor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, 
Attorney-General and Superintendent of Public Instruction; who 
shall be chosen by the electors of the State at the time and place 


CONSTITUTION. 


339 

of voting- for members of the legislature, and shall hold their 
offices for the term of two years from the second Monday of 
January next after their election, and until their successors are 
elected and qualified. 

Sec. 2. Until otherwise provided by law r , an abstract of the 
returns of every election for the officers named in the foregoing 
section shall be sealed up and transmitted by the clerks of the 
boards of canvassers of the several counties to the Secretary of 
State, who, with the Lieutenant-Governor and Attorney-General 
shall constitute a board of State canvassers, whose duty it shall 
be to meet at the State capital on the second Tuesday of Decem¬ 
ber succeeding each election for State officers, and canvass the 
vote for such officers and proclaim the result; but in case any two 
or more have an equal and the highest number of votes, the legis¬ 
lature shall, by joint ballot, choose one of said persons so having 
an equal and the highest number of votes for said office. 


OF THE GOVERNOR. 


Sec. 3. The supreme executive power of the State shall be 
vested in a Governor, who shall see that the laws are faithfully 
executed. 

Sec. 4. He may require information in writing from the officers 
of the executive department upon any subject relating to their 
respective duties. 

Sec. 5. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the legis¬ 
lature by proclamation, and shall at the commencement of every 
session communicate in writing such information as he may pos¬ 
sess in reference to the condition of the State, and recommend 
such measures as he may deem expedient. 

Sec. 6. In case of disagreement between the two houses in 
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn the legisla¬ 
ture to such time as he may think proper, not beyond its regular 
meeting. 

Sec. 7. The pardoning power shall be vested in the Governor 
under regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. 

Sec. 8. There shall be a seal of the State, which shall be kept 
by the Governor, and used by him officially, and which shall be 
the great seal of Kansas. 

Sec. 9. All commissions shall be issued in the name of the 
State of Kansas, signed by the Governor, countersigned by the 
Secretary of State, and sealed with the great seal. 


340 


APPENDIX. 


Sec. 10. No member of congress, or officer of the State, or of 
the United States, shall hold the office of Governor, except as 
herein provided. 


OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR. 

Sec. 11. In case of the death, impeachment, resignation, 
removal or other disability of the Governor, the power and duties 
of the office for the residue of the term, or until the disability 
shall be removed, shall devolve upon the president of the senate. 

Sec. 12. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be president of the 
senate, and shall vote only when the senate is equally divided. 
The senate shall choose a president pro tempore , to preside in case 
of his absence or impeachment, or when he shall hold the office of 
Governor. 

Sec. 13. If the Lieutenant-Governor, while holding the office 
of Governor, shall be impeached or displaced, or shall resign, or 
die, or otherwise become incapable of performing the duties of 
the office, the president of the senate shall act as Governor until 
the vacancy is filled or the disability removed; and if the president 
of the senate, for any of the above causes, shall be rendered inca¬ 
pable of performing the duties pertaining to the office of Governor, 
the same shall devolve upon the speaker of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives. 


OTHER STATE OFFICERS. 

Sec. 14. Should either the Secretary of State, Auditor, Treas¬ 
urer, Attorney-General or Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
become incapable of performing the duties of his office, for any 
of the causes specified in the thirteenth section of this article, the 
Governor shall fill the vacancy until the disability is removed, or 
a successor is elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be 
filled by election at the first general election that occurs more than 
thirty days after it shall have happened; and the person chosen 
shall hold the office for the unexpired term. 


SALARIES AND OFFICIAL REPORTS. 

Sec. 15. The officers mentioned in this article shall, at stated 
times, receive for their services a compensation, to be established 
by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
the period for which they shall have been elected. 


CONSTITUTION. 


341 


Sec. 16. The officers of the executive department, and of all 
public State institutions, shall, at least ten days preceding each 
regular session of the legislature, severally report to the Governor, 
who shall transmit such reports to the legislature. 

I 


ARTICLE 2. 


LEGISLATIVE. 

Section 1 . The legislative power of this State shall be vested 
in a house of representatives and senate. 

Sec. 2. The number of representatives and senators shall be 
regulated by law;, but shall never exceed one hundred and twenty- 
five representatives and forty senators. From and after the 
adoption of this amendment [November, 1873], the house of 
representatives shall admit one member for each county in which 
at least two hundred and fifty legal votes were cast at the next 
preceding general election; and each organized county in which 
less than two hundred legal votes were cast at the next preceding 
general election shall be attached to and constitute a part of the 
representative district of the county lying next adjacent to it on 
the east. 

Sec. 3. The members of the legislature shall receive as com¬ 
pensation for their services the sum of three dollars for each day’s 
actual service at any regular or special session, and fifteen cents 
for each mile traveled by the usual route in going to and returning 
from the place of meeting; but such compensation shall not in the 
aggregate exceed the sum of two hundred and forty dollars for 
each member, as per diem allowance for the first session held 
under this Constitution, nor more than one hundred and fifty dol¬ 
lars for each session thereafter, nor more than ninety dollars for 
any special session. 

Sec. 4. No person shall be a member of the legislature who is 
not at the time of his election a qualified voter of, and a resident 
in, the county or district for which he is elected. 

Sec. 5. No member of congress or officer of the United States 
shall be eligible to a seat in the legislature. If any person after 
his election to the legislature, be elected to congress or elected or 
appointed to any office under the United States, his acceptance 
thereof shall vacate his seat. 

Sfic. 6. No person convicted of embezzlement or misuse of the 
public funds shall have a seat in the legislature. 


342 


APPENDIX. 


Sec. 7. All State officers, before entering 1 upon their respective 
duties, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support 
the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this 
State, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective 
offices. 

Sec. 8. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum. 
Each house shall establish its own rules, and shall be judge of the 
elections, returns and qualifications of its own members. 

Sec. 9. All vacancies occurring in either house shall be filled 
for the unexpired term by election. 

Sec. 10. Each house shall keep and publish a journal of its 
proceedings. The yeas and nays shall be taken and entered imme¬ 
diately on the journal, upon the final passage of every bill or 
joint resolution. Neither house, without the consent of the other, 
shall adjourn for more than two days, Sundays excepted. 

Sec. 11. Any member of either house shall have the right to 
protest against any act or resolution; and such protest shall with¬ 
out delay or alteration be entered on the journal. 

Sec. 12. Bills may originate in either house, but may be 
amended or rejected by the other. 

Sec. 13. A majority of all the members elected to each house, 
voting in the affirmative, shall be necessary to pass any bill or 
joint resolution. 

Sec. 14. Every bill and joint resolution passed by the house of 
representatives and senate, shall within two days thereafter be 
signed by the presiding officers, and presented to the Governor; 
if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it to 
the house of representatives, which shall enter the objections at 
large upon its journal and proceed to reconsider the same. If 
after such reconsideration two-thirds of the members elected shall 
agree to pass the bill or resolution, it shall be sent with the 
objections to the senate, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 
and if approved by two-thirds of all the members elected, it shall 
become a law. But in all such cases the vote shall be taken by 
yeas and nays, and entered upon the journals of each house. If 
any bill shall not be returned within three days (Sunday excepted) 
after it shall have been presented to the Governor, it shall become 
a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature 
by its adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not 
become a law. 

Sec. 15. Every bill shall be read on three separate days in each 
house, unless in case of emergency. Two-thirds of the house 
where such bill is pending may, if deemed expedient, suspend the 
rules; but the reading of the bill by sections on its final passage, 
shall in no case be dispensed with. 


CONSTITUTION. 


343 


Sec. 1G. No bill shall contain more than one subject, which 
shall be clearly expressed in its title, and no law shall be revived 
or amended unless the new act contain the entire act revived, or 
the section or sections amended, and the section or sections so 
amended shall be repealed. 

Sec. 17. All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform 
operation throughout the State; and in all cases where a general 
law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted. 

Sec. 18. All power to grant divorces is vested in the district 
courts, subject to regulation by law. 

Sec. 19. The legislature shall prescribe the time when its acts 
shall be in force, and shall provide for the speedy publication of 
the same; and no law of a general nature shall be in force until 
the same be published. It shall have the power to provide for 
the election or appointment of all officers, and the filling of all 
vacancies not otherwise provided for in the Constitution. 

Sec. 20. The enacting clause of all laws shall be, “Be it enacted 
by the legislature of the State of Kansas;” and no law shall be 
^aacted except by bill. 

Sec. 21. The legislature may confer upon tribunals transacting 
the county business of the several counties, such powers of local 
legislation and administration as it shall deem expedient. 

Sec. 22. For any speech or debate in either house the members 
shall not be questioned elsewhere. No member of the legislature 
shall be subject to arrest—except for felony or breach of the 
peace—in going to, or returning from, the place of meeting, or 
during the continuance of the session; neither shall he be subject 
to the service of any civil process during the session, nor for 
fifteen days previous to its commencement. 

Sec. 23. The legislature, in providing for the formation and 
regulation of schools, shall make no distinction between the rights 
of males and females. 

Sec. 24. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, except in 
pursuance of a specific appropriation made by law, and no appro¬ 
priation shall be for a longer term than two years. 

Sec. 25. All sessions of the legislature shall be held at the 
State capital, and beginning with the session of eighteen hundred 
and seventy-seven, all regular sessions shall be held once in two 
years, commencing on the second Tuesday of January of each 
alternate year thereafter. 

Sec. 26. The legislature shall provide for taking an enumera¬ 
tion of the inhabitants of the State at least once in ten years. 
The first enumeration shall be taken in A. n. 1865. 


344 


APPENDIX. 


Sec. 27. The house of representatives shall have the sole 
power to impeach. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; 
and when sitting for that purpose, the senators shall take an oath 
to do justice according to the law and the evidence. No person 
shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the 
senators elected. 

Sec. 28. The Governor and all other officers under this consti¬ 
tution shall be subject to impeachment for any misdemeanor in 
office; but judgment in all such cases shall not be extended further 
than to removal from office and disqualification to hold any office 
of profit, honor or trust under this Constitution; but the party, 
whether acquitted or convicted, shall be liable to indictment, trial, 
judgment and punishment according to law. 

Sec. 29. At the general election held in eighteen hundred and 
seventy-six, and thereafter, members of the house of representa¬ 
tives shall be elected for two years, and members of the senate 
shall be elected for four years. 


ARTICLE 3. 


JUDICIAL. 

Section 1 . The judicial power of this State shall be vested in 
a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, justices of the 
peace, and such other courts inferior to the supreme court as 
may be provided by law; and all courts of record shall have a 
seal, to be used in the authentication of all process. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall consist of one chief justice 
and two associate justices (a majority of whom shall constitute a 
quorum), who shall be elected by the electors of the State at large, 
and whose term of office, after the first, shall be six years. At 
the first election a chief justice shall be chosen for six years, one 
associate justice for four years, and one for two years. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall have original jurisdiction in 
proceedings in quo warranto , mandamus and habeas corpus; and 
such appellate jurisdiction as may be provided by law. It shall 
hold one term each year at the seat of government, and such 
other terms at such places- as may be provided by law, and its 
jurisdiction shall be co-extensive with the State. 

Sec. 4. There shall be appointed, by the justices of the 
supreme court, a reporter and clerk of said court, who shall hold 
their offices two years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law. 


CONSTITUTION. 


345 


Sec. 5. The State shall be divided into five judicial districts, in 
each of which there shall be elected, by the electors thereof, a 
district judge, who shall hold his office for the term of four years. 
District courts shall be held at such times and places as may be 
provided by law. 

Sec. 6. The district courts shall have such jurisdiction in their 
respective districts as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 7. There shall be elected in each organized county a clerk 
of the district court, who shall hold his office two years, and 
whose duties shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 8. There shall be a probate court in each county ? which 
shall be a court of record, and have such probate jurisdiction and 
care of estates of deceased persons, minors and persons of 
unsound minds, as may be prescribed by law, and shall have juris¬ 
diction in cases of habeas corpus. This court shall consist of one 
judge, who shall be elected by the qualified voters of the county, 
and hold his office two years. He shall be his own clerk, and 
shall hold court at such-times, and receive for compensation such 
fees as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 9. Two justices of the peace shall be elected in each 
township, whose term of office shall be two years, and whose 
powers and duties shall be prescribed by law. The number of 
justices of the peace may be increased in any township by law. 

Sec. 10. All appeals from probate courts and justices of the 
peace shall be to the district court. 

Sec. 11. All the judicial officers provided for by this article 
shall be elected at the first election under this Constitution, and 
shall reside in their respective townships, counties or districts 
during their respective terms of office. In case of vacancy in any 
judicial office, it shall be filled by appointment of the Governor 
until the next regular election that shall occur more than thirty 
days after such vacancy shall have happened. 

Sec. 12. All judicial officers shall hold their offices until their 
successors shall have qualified. 

Sec. 13. The justices of the supreme court and judges of the 
district courts shall, at stated times, receive for their services such 
compensation as may be provided by law, which shall not be 
increased during their respective terms of office; provided, such 
compensation shall not be less than fifteen hundred dollars to each 
justice or judge each year, and such justices or judges shall 
receive no fees or perquisites, nor hold any other office of profit 
or trust under the authority of the State or the United States dur¬ 
ing the term of office for which said justices and judges shall be 
elected, nor practice law in any of the courts in the State during 
their continuance in office. 


APPENDIX. 


346 


Sec. 14. Provision may be made by law for the increase of the 
number of judicial districts whenever two-thirds of the members 
of each house shall concur. Such districts shall be formed of 
compact Territory, and bounded by county lines, and such 
increase shall not vacate the office of any judge. 

Sec. 15. Justices of the supreme court and judges of the dis¬ 
trict courts may be removed from office by resolution of both 
houses, if two-thirds of the members of each house concur; but 
no such removal shall be made except upon complaint, the sub¬ 
stance of which shall be entered upon the journal, nor until the 
party charged shall have had notice and opportunity to be heard. 

Sec. 16. The several justices and judges of the courts of 
record in this State, shall have such jurisdiction at chambers as 
may be provided by law. 

Sec. 17. The style of all process shall be ‘‘The State of Kansas,” 
and all prosecutions shall be carried on in the name of the State. 

Sec. 18. Until otherwise provided by law, the first district 
shall consist of the counties of Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Jeffer¬ 
son and Jackson. The second district shall consist of the counties 
of Atchison, Doniphan, Brown, Nemaha, Marshall and Washing¬ 
ton. The third district shall consist of the counties of Pottawa¬ 
tomie, Riley, Clay, Dickinson, Davis , Wabaunsee and Shawnee. 
The fourth district shall consist of the counties of Douglas, John¬ 
son, Lykins, Franklin, Anderson, Linn, Bourbon and Allen. The 
fifth district shall consist of the counties of Osage, Coffey, Wood- 
son, Greenwood, Madison , Breckinridge , Morris, Chase, Butler 
and Hunter. 

Sec. 19. New or unorganized counties shall by law be attached 
for judicial purposes to the most convenient judicial districts. 

Sec. 20. Provision shall be made by law for the selection, by 
the bar, of a pro tem. judge of the district court, when the judge 
is absent or otherwise unable or disqualified to sit in any case. 


ARTICLE 4. 

ELECTIONS. 

Section 1. All elections by the people shall be by ballot, and 
all elections by the legislature shall be viva voce. 

Sec. 2. General elections shall be held annually on the Tuesday 
succeeding the first Monday in November. Township elections 
shall be held on the first Tuesday in April, until otherwise pro¬ 
vided by law. 


CONSTITUTION. 


;;47 


ARTICLE 5. 


SUFFRAGE. 


Section 1 . Every [white] male person of twenty-one years 
and upwards, belonging to either of the following classes—-who 
shall have resided in Kansas six months next preceding any elec¬ 
tion, and in the township or ward in which he ' offers to vote at 
least thirty days next preceding such election—shall be deemed a 
qualified elector: 

1st. Citizens of the United States. 

2d. Persons of foreign birth who shall have declared their 
intention to become citizens conformably to the laws of the United 
States on the subject of naturalization. 

Sec. 2. No person under guardianship, non compos mentis , or 
insane; no person convicted of felony, unless restored to civil 
rights; no person who has been dishonorably discharged from the 
service of the United States, unless reinstated; no person guilty 
of defrauding the Government of the United States^ or any of the 
States thereof; no person guilty of giving or receiving a bribe, or 
offering to give or receive a bribe; and no person who has ever 
voluntarily borne arms against the Government of the United 
States, or in any manner voluntarily aided or abetted in the 
attempted overthrow of said Government, except all persons who 
have been honorably discharged from the military service of the 
United States since the first day of April a. d., 1861, provided 
that they have served one year or more therein, shall be qualified 
to vote or hold office in this State, until such disability shall be 
removed by a law passed by a vote of two-thirds of all the mem¬ 
bers of both branches of the legislature. 

Sec. 3. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed 
to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or 
absence while employed in the service of the United States, nor 
while engaged in the navigation of the waters of this State, or of 
the United States, or of the high seas, nor while a student of any 
seminary of learning, nor while kept at any almshouse or other 
asylum at public expense, nor while confined in any public prison; 
and the legislature may make provision for taking the votes of 
electors who may be absent from their townships or wards, in the 
volunteer military service of the United States, or the militia 
service of this State; but nothing herein contained shall be 
deemed to allow any soldier, seaman or marine in the regular 
army or navy of the United States the right to vote. 

Sec. 4. The legislature shall pass such laws as may be neces¬ 
sary for ascertaining, by proper proofs, the citizens who shall be 
entitled to the right of. suffrage hereby established. 


348 


APPENDIX. 


Sec. 5. Every person who shall give or accept a challenge to 
fight a duel, or who shall knowingly carry to another person such 
challenge, or who shall go out of the State to fight a duel, shall 
be ineligible to any office of trust or profit. 

Sec. 6. Every person who shall have given or offered a bribe 
to procure his election, shall be disqualified from holding office 
during the term for which he may have been elected. 

Sec. 7. Electors, during their attendance at elections, and in 
going to and returning therefrom, shall be privileged from arrest 
m all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace. 


ARTICLE 6. 

EDUCATION. 

Section 1. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction 
shall have the general supervision of the common school funds and 
educational interests of the State, and perform such other duties 
as may be prescribed by law. A superintendent of public instruc¬ 
tion shall be elected in each county, whose term of office shall be 
two years, and whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 2. The legislature shall encourage the promotion of intel¬ 
lectual, moral, scientific and agricultural improvement, by estab¬ 
lishing a uniform system of common schools, and schools of a 
higher grade, embracing normal, preparatory, collegiate and uni¬ 
versity departments. 

Sec. 3. The proceeds of all lands that have been or may be 
granted by the United States to the State for the support of 
schools, and the five hundred thousand acres of land granted to 
the new States under an act of congress distributing the proceeds 
of public lands among the several States of the Union, approved 
September 4th, A. D., 1841, and all estates of persons dying 
without heir or will, and such per cent as may be granted by 
congress on the sale of lands in this State, shall be the common 
property of the State, and shall be a perpetual school fund, which 
shall not be diminished, but the interest of which, together with 
all the rents of the lands, and such other means as the legislature 
may provide, by tax or otherwise, shall be inviolably appropriated 
to the support of common schools. 

Sec. 4. The income of the State school funds shall be disbursed 
annually, by order of the State Superintendent, to the several 
county treasurers, and thence to the treasurers of the several 


CONSTITUTION. 


349 


school districts, in equitable proportion to the number of children 
and youth resident therein, between the ages of five and twenty- 
one years; provided, that no school district, in which a common 
school has not been maintained at least three months in each year, 
shall be entitled to receive any portion of such funds. 

Sec. 5. The school lands shall not be sold, unless such sale 
shall be authorized by a vote of the people at a general election; 
but, subject to re-valuation every five years, they may be leased 
for any number of years, not exceeding twenty-five, at a rate 
established by law. 

Sec. 6. All money which shall be paid by persons as an equiv¬ 
alent for exemption from military duty; the clear proceeds of 
estrays, ownership of which shall vest in the taker-up; and the 
proceeds of fines for any breach of the penal laws, shall be exclu¬ 
sively applied in the several counties in which the money is paid 
or fines collected, to the support of common schools. 

Sec. 7. Provision shall be made by law for the establishment, 
at some eligible and central point, of a State university for the 
promotion of literature, and the arts and sciences, including a 
normal and an agricultural department. All funds arising from 
the sale or rents of lands granted by the United States to the State 
for the support of a State university, and all other grants, dona¬ 
tions or bequests, either by the State or by individuals, for such 
purpose, shall remain a perpetual fund, to be called the “univer¬ 
sity fund,” the interest of which shall be appropriated to the sup¬ 
port of the State university. 

Sec. 8. No religious sect or sects shall ever control any part of 
the common school or university funds of the State. 

Sec. 9. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Sec¬ 
retary of State and Attorney-General, shall constitute a board of 
commissioners, for the management and investment of the school 
funds. Any two of said commissioners shall be a quorum. 


ARTICLE 7. 

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. 

Section 1. Institutions for the benefit of the insane, blind, and 
deaf and dumb, and such other benevolent institutions as the 
public good may require, shall be fostered and supported by the 
State, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law. 
Trustees of such benevolent institutions as may be hereafter 
created, shall be appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice 


350 


APPENDIX. 


and consent of the senate; and upon all nominations made by the 
Governor the question shall be taken in yeas and nays, and entered 
upon the journal. 

Sec. 2. A penitentiary shall be established, the directors of 
which shall be appointed or elected, as prescribed by law. 

Sec. 3. The Governor shall fill any vacancy that may occur in 
the offices aforesaid until the next session of the legislature, and 
until a successor to his appointee shall be confirmed and qualified. 

Sec. 4. The respective counties of the State shall provide, as 
may be prescribed by law, for those inhabitants who ; by reason of 
age, infirmity, or other misfortune, may have claims upon the 
sympathy and aid of society. 


ARTICLE 8. 

MILITIA. 

Section 1 . The militia shall be composed of all able-bodied 
male citizens between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five years, 
except such as are exempted by the laws of the United States or of 
this State; but all citizens of any religious denomination whatever 
who, from scruples of conscience may be averse to bearing arms, 
shall be exempted therefrom upon such conditions as may be pre¬ 
scribed by law. 

Sec. 2. The legislature shall provide for organizing, equipping 
and disciplining the militia in such manner as it shall deem expe¬ 
dient not incompatible with the laws of the United States. 

Sec. 3. Officers of the militia shall be elected or appointed, and 
commissioned in such manner as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 4. The Governor shall be commander-in-chief, and shall 
have power to call out the militia to execute the laws, to suppress 
insurrection, and to repel invasion. 


ARTICLE 9. 

COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 

Section 1 . The legislature shall provide for organizing new 
counties, locating county seats, and changing county lines; but 
no county seat shall be changed without the consent of a majority 
of the electors of the county; nor any county organized, nor the 
lines of any county changed so as to include an area of less than 
four hundred and thirty-two square miles. 


CONSTITUTION. 


351 


Sec. 2. The legislature shall provide for such county and town¬ 
ship officers as may be necessary. 

Sec. 3. All county officers shall hold their offices for the term 
of two years, and until their successors shall be qualified, except 
county commissioners, who shall hold their offices for the term of 
three years; provided, that at the general election in the year 
eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, the commissioner elected 
from district number one in each county shall hold his office for 
the term of one year; the commissioner elected from district num¬ 
ber two in each county shall hold his office for the term of two 
years, and the commissioner elected from district number three in 
each county shall hold his office for the term of three years; but 
no person shall hold the office of sheriff or county treasurer for 
more than two consecutive terms. 

Sec. 4. Township officers, except justices of the peace, shall 
hold their offices one year from the Monday next succeeding their 
election, and until their successors are qualified. 

Sec. 5. All county and township officers may be removed from 
office, in such manner and for such cause as shall be prescribed 
by law. 


ARTICLE 10. 

APPORTIONMENT., 

Section 1 . In the future apportionments of the State, each 
organized county shall have at least one representative; and each 
county shall be divided into as many districts as it has representa¬ 
tives. 

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the first legislature to make an 
apportionment, based upon the census ordered by the last legis¬ 
lative assembly of the Territory; and a new apportionment shall 
be made in the year 1866, and every five years thereafter, based 
upon the census of the preceding year. 

Sec. 3. Until there shall be a new apportionment, the State 
shall be divided into election districts; and the representatives and 
senators shall be apportioned among the several districts as fol¬ 
lows, viz: 

1st district, Doniphan, 4 representatives, 2 senators; 

2d district, Atchison and Brown, 6 representatives, 2 senators; 

3d district, Nemaha, Marshall and Washington, 2 representa¬ 
tives, 1 senator; 

4th district, Clay, Riley and Pottawatomie, 4 representatives, 1 
senator; 


352 


APPENDIX. 


5th district, Dickinson, Davis and Wabaunsee, 3 representa¬ 
tives, 1 senator; 

6th district, Shawnee, Jackson and Jefferson, 8 representatives. 
2 senators; 

7th district, Leavenworth, 9 representatives, 3 senators; 

8th district, Douglas, Johnson and Wyandotte, 13 representa¬ 
tives, 4 senators; 

9th district, Lykins, Linn and Bourbon, 9 representatives, 3 
senators; 

10th district, Allen, Anderson and Franklin, 6 representatives, 
2 senators; 

11th district, Woodson and Madison, 2 representatives, 1 senator; 

12th district, Coffey, Osage and Breckinridge, 6 representa¬ 
tives, 2 senators; 

13th district, Morris, Chase and Butler, 2 representatives, 1 
senator; 

14th district, Arapahoe, Godfrey, Greenwood, Hunter, Wilson, 
Dorn and McGee, 1 representative. 

[Names of counties have been changed as follows: Davis to Geary; 
Lykins to Miami; Madison was abolished in 1861 ; Breckinridge changed 
to Lyon; Arapahoe was cut off and extinguished as a Kansas county on 
the admission of the State; Godfrey changed to Seward, then to Howard, 
and Howard was abolished and its territory erected into Chautauqua and 
Elk; Hunter was changed to Cowley; Dorn to Neosho, and McGee to Cher¬ 
okee.] 


ARTICLE 11. 

FINANCE AND TAXATION. 

Section 1. The legislature shall provide for a uniform and 
equal rate of assessment and taxation; but all property used exclu¬ 
sively for State, county, municipal, literary, educational, scientific, 
religious, benevolent and charitable purposes, and personal prop¬ 
erty to the amount of at least two hundred dollars for each family, 
shall be exempted from taxation. 

Sec. 2. The legislature shall provide for taxing the notes and 
bills discounted or purchased, moneys loaned, and other property, 
effects, or dues, of every description (without deduction), of all 
banks now existing, or hereafter to be created, and of all bankers; 
so that all property employed in banking shall always bear a bur¬ 
den of taxation equal to that imposed upon the property of indi¬ 
viduals. 


CONSTITUTION. 


353 


Sec. 3. The legislature shall provide, at each regular session, 
for raising sufficient revenue to defray the current expenses of the 
State for two years. 

Sec. 4. No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of a law 
which shall distinctly state the object of the same, to which object 
only such tax shall be applied. 

Sec. 5. For the purpose of defraying extraordinary expenses 
and making public improvements, the State may contract public 
debts; but such debts shall never, in the aggregate, exceed one 
million dollars, except as hereinafter provided. Every such debt 
shall be authorized by law for some purpose specified therein, and 
the vote of a majority of all the members elected to each house, 
to be taken by the yeas and nays, shall be necessary to the passage 
of such law; and every such law shall provide for levying an 
annual tax sufficient to pay the annual interest of such debt, and 
the principal thereof, when it shall become due; and shall spe¬ 
cifically appropriate the proceeds of such taxes to the payment of 
such principal and interest; and such appropriation shall not be 
repealed nor the taxes postponed or diminished, until the interest 
and principal of such debt shall have been wholly paid. 

Sec. 6. No debt shall be contracted by the State except as 
herein provided, unless the proposed law for creating such debt 
shall first be submitted to a direct vote of the electors of the State 
at some general election; and if such proposed law shall be ratified 
by a majority of all the votes cast at such general election, then it 
shall be the duty of the legislature, next after such election, to 
enact such law and create such debt, subject to all the provisions 
and restrictions provided in the preceding sections of this article. 

Sec. 7. The State may borrow money to repel invasion, sup¬ 
press insurrection, or defend the State in time of war; but the 
money thus raised shall be applied exclusively to the object for 
which the loan was authorized, or to the repayment of the debt 
thereby created. 

Sec. 8. The State shall never be a party in carrying on any 
works of internal improvement. 


ARTICLE 12. 


CORPORATIONS. 

Section 1. The legislature shall pass no special act conferring 
corporate powers. Corporations may be created under general 
laws; but all such laws may be amended or repealed. 


APPENDIX. 


354 

Sec. 2. Dues from corporations shall be secured by individual 
liability of the stockholders to an additional amount equal to the 
stock owned by each stockholder, and such other means as shall 
be provided by law; but such individual liabilities shall not apply 
to railroad corporations, nor corporations for religious or chari¬ 
table purposes. 

Sec. 3. The title to all property of religious corporations shall 
vest in trustees, whose election shall be by the members of such 
corporations. 

Sec. 4. No right-of-way shall be appropriated to the use of any 
corporation, until full compensation therefor be first made in 
money, or secured by a deposit in money, to the owner, irrespec¬ 
tive of any benefit from any improvement proposed by such 
corporation. 

Sec. 5. Provision shall be made by general law for the organ¬ 
ization of cities, towns, and villages; and their power of taxation, 
assessment, borrowing money, contracting debts and loaning 
their credit, shall be so restricted as to prevent the abuse of such 
power. 

Sec. 6. The term corporations, as used in this article, shall 
include all the associations and joint stock companies having 
powers and privileges not possessed by individuals or partner¬ 
ships ; and all corporations may sue and be sued in their corporate 
name. 


ARTICLE 13. 

BANKS AND CURRENCY. 

Section 1 . No bank shall be established otherwise than under 
a general banking law. 

Sec. 2. All banking laws shall require as collateral security for 
the redemption of the circulating notes of any bank organized 
under their provision, a deposit with the Auditor of State of the 
interest-paying bonds of the several States, or of the United 
States, at the cash rates of the New York Stock Exchange, to an 
amount equal to the amount of circulating notes which such bank 
shall be authorized to issue, and a cash deposit in its vaults of ten 
per cent of such amount of circulating notes; and the Auditor 
shall register and countersign no more circulating bills of any bank 
than the cash value of such bonds when deposited. 

Sec. 3. Whenever the bonds pledged as collateral security for 
the circulation of any bank shall depreciate in value, the Auditor 
of State shall require additional security, or curtail the circulation 


CONSTITUTION. 


355 


of such bank, to such extent as will continue the security unim¬ 
paired. 

Sec. 4. All circulating notes shall be redeemable in the money 
of the United States. Holders of such notes shall be entitled, in 
case of the insolvency of such banks, to preference of payment 
over all other creditors. 

Sec. 5. The State shall not be a stockholder in any banking 
institution. 

Sec. 6. All banks shall be required to keep offices and officers 
for the issue and redemption of their circulation, at a convenient 
place within the State, to be named on the circulating notes issued 
by such bank. 

Sec. 7. No banking institution shall issue circulating notes of 
a less denomination than one dollar. 

Sec. 8. No banking law shall be in force until the same shall 
have been submitted to a vote of the electors of the State at some 
general election, and approved by a majority of all the votes cast 
at such election. 

Sec. 9. Any banking law may be amended or repealed. 


ARTICLE 14. 

AMENDMENTS. 

Section 1 . Propositions for the amendment of this Constitu¬ 
tion may be made by either branch of the legislature; and if 
two-thirds of all the members elected to each house shall concur 
therein, such proposed amendments, together with the yeas and 
nays, shall be entered on the journal; and the Secretary of State 
shall cause the same to be published in at. least one newspaper in 
each county of the State where a newspaper is published, for 
three months preceding the next election for representatives, at 
which time the same shall be submitted to the electors for their 
approval or rejection; and if a majority of the electors voting on 
said amendments, at said election, shall adopt the amendments, 
the same shall become a part of the Constitution. When more 
than one amendment shall be submitted at the same time, they 
shall be so submitted as to enable the electors to vote on each 
amendment separately; and not more than three propositions to 
amend shall be submitted at the same election. 

Sec. 2. Whenever two-thirds of the members elected to each 
branch of the legislature shall think it necessary to call a conven- 


356 


APPENDIX. 


tion to revise, amend or change this Constitution, they shall 
recommend to the electors to vote at the next election of members 
to the legislature, for or against a convention: and if a majority 
of all the electors voting at such election shall have voted for a 
convention, the legislature shall, at the next session, provide for 
calling the same. 


ARTICLE 15. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Section 1. All officers whose election or appointment is not 
otherwise provided for, shall be chosen or appointed as may be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 2. The tenure of any office not herein provided for may 
be declared by law; when not so declared such office shall be held 
during the pleasure of the authority making the appointment, but 
the legislature shall not create any office the tenure of which shall 
be longer than four years. 

Sec. 3. Lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets are forever 
prohibited. 

Sec. 4. All public printing shall be done by a State Printer, 
who shall be elected by the legislature in joint session, and shall 
hold his office for two years, and until his successor shall be 
elected and qualified. The joint session of the legislature for the 
election of a State Printer shall be on the third Tuesday of Janu¬ 
ary, A. D., 1869, and every two years thereafter. All public 
printing shall be done at the capital, and the prices for the same 
shall be regulated by law. 

Sec. 5. An accurate and detailed statement of the receipts and 
expenditures of the public moneys, and the several amounts paid, 
to whom, and on what account, shall be published, as prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 6. The legislature shall provide for the protection of the 
rights of women in acquiring and possessing property, real, per¬ 
sonal and mixed, separate and apart from the husband; and shall 
also provide for their equal rights in the possession of their 
children. 

Sec. 7. The legislature may reduce the salaries of officers who 
shall neglect the performance of any legal duty. 

Sec. 8. The temporary seat of Government is hereby located 
at the city of Topeka, county of Shawnee. The first legislature 
under this Constitution shall provide by law for submitting the 
question of the permanent location of the capital to a popular 


CONSTITUTION. 


357 


vote, and a majority of all the votes cast at some general election 
shall be necessary for such location. 

Sec. 9. A homestead, to the extent of one hundred and sixty 
acres of farming land, or of one acre within the limits of an incor¬ 
porated town or city, occupied as a residence by the family of the 
owner, together with all improvements on the same, shall be 
exempted from forced sale under any process of law, and shall 
not be alienated without the joint consent of husband and wife, 
when that relation exists; but no property shall be exempt from 
sale for taxes, or for the payment of obligations contracted for the 
purchase of said premises, or for the erection of improvements 
thereon; provided, the provisions of this section shall not apply 
to any process of law obtained by virtue of a lien given by the 
consent of both husband and wife. 

Sec. 10. The manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors shall 
be forever prohibited in this State, except for medical, scientific 
and mechanical purposes. 


SCHEDULE. 

Section 1. That no inconvenience may arise from the chapge 
from a Territorial Government to a permanent State Government, 
it is declared by this Constitution, that all suits, rights, actions, 
prosecutions, recognizances, contracts, judgments and claims, 
both as respects individuals and bodies corporate, shall continue 
as if no change had taken place, 

Sec. 2. All fines, penalties and forfeitures, owing to the Terri¬ 
tory of Kansas, or any county, shall inure to the use of the State 
or county. All bonds executed to the Territory, or any officer 
thereof in his official capacity, shall pass over to the Governor, or 
other officers of the State or county, and their successors in office, 
for the use of the State or county, or by him or them to be 
respectively assigned over to the use of those concerned, as the 
case may be. 

Sec. 3. The Governor, Secretary and judges, and all other 
officers, both civil and military, under the Territorial Government, 
shall continue in the exercise of the duties of their respective 
departments until the said officers are superseded under the 
authority of this Constitution. 

Sec. 4. All laws and parts of laws in force in the Territory at 
the time of the acceptance of this Constitution by Congress, not 
inconsistent with this Constitution, shall continue and remain in 
full force until they expire, or shall be repealed. 


358 


APPENDIX. 


Sec. 5. The Governor shall use his private seal until a State 
seal is provided. 

Sec. 6. The Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of State, 
Treasurer of State, Attorney-General and Superintendent of 
Public Instruction shall keep their respective offices at the seat of 
Government. 

Sec. 7. All records, documents, books, papers, moneys and 
vouchers belonging and pertaining to the several Territorial courts 
and offices, and to the several district and county offices, at the 
date of the admission of this State into the Union, shall be dis¬ 
posed of in such manner as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 8. All suits, pleas, plaints and other proceedings pending 
in any court of record, or justices’ court, may be prosecuted to 
final judgment and execution; and all appeals, writ of error, 
certiorari injunctions, or other proceedings whatever, may progress 
and be carried on as if this Constitution had not been adopted, 
and the legislature shall direct the mode in which such suits, 
pleas, plaints, prosecutions and other proceedings, and all papers, 
records, books and documents connected therewith, may be 
removed to the courts established by this Constitution. 

Sec. 9. For the purpose of taking the vote of the electors of 
this Territory for the ratification or rejection of this Constitution, 
an election shall be held in the several voting precincts in this 
Territory, on the first Tuesday in October, A. D., 1859. 

Sec. 10. Each elector shall express his assent or dissent by 
voting a written or printed ballot labeled “For the Constitution,” 
or “Against the Constitution.” 

Sec. 11. If a majority of all the votes cast at such election 
shall be in favor of the Constitution : then there shall be an elec¬ 
tion held in the several voting precincts on the first Tuesday in 
December, a. d., 1859, for the election of members of the first 
legislature, of all State, district and county officers provided for in 
this Constitution, and for a representative in congress. 

Sec. 12. All persons having the qualification of electors, accord¬ 
ing to the provisions of this Constitution, at the date of each of said 
elections, and who shall have been duly registered according to 
the provisions of the registry law of this Territory, and none 
others, shall be entitled to vote at each of said elections. 

Sec. 13. The persons who may be judges of the several voting 
precincts of this Territory at the date of the respective elections 
in this schedule provided for, shall be the judges of the respective 
elections herein provided for. 

Sec. 14. The said judges of election, before entering upon the 
duties of their office, shall take and subscribe an oath faithfully to 



CONSTITUTION. 


359 


discharge their duties as such. They shall appoint two clerks of 
election, who shall be sworn by one of said judges faithfully to 
discharge their duties as such. In the event of a vacancy in the 
board of judges the same shall be filled by the electors present. 

Sec. 15. At each of the elections provided for in this schedule 
the polls shall be open between the hours of nine and ten o’clock, 
a. m., and close at sunset. 

Sec. 16. The tribunals transacting county business of the sev¬ 
eral counties, shall cause to be furnished to the boards of judges 
in their respective counties two poll books for each election here¬ 
inbefore provided for, upon which the clerks shall inscribe the 
name of every person who may vote at the said elections. 

Sec. 17. After closing the polls at each of the elections provided 
for in this schedule, the judges shall proceed to count the votes 
cast, and designate the persons or objects for which they were 
cast, and shall make two correct tally lists of the same. 

Sec. 18. Each of the boards of judges shall safely keep one 
poll book and tally list, and the ballots cast at each election; and 
shall, within ten days after such election, cause the other poll book 
and tally list to be transmitted, by the hands of a sworn officer, to 
the clerk of the board transacting county business in their respect¬ 
ive counties, or to which the county may be attached for municipal 
purposes. 

Sec. 19. The tribunals transacting county business shall 
assemble at the county seats of their respective counties on the 
second Tuesday after each of the elections provided for in this 
schedule, and shall canvass the votes cast at the elections held in 
the several precincts in their respective counties, and of the coun¬ 
ties attached for municipal purposes. They shall hold in safe 
keeping the poll books and tally lists of said elections, and shall, 
within ten days thereafter, transmit, by the hands of a sworn 
officer, to the President of this convention, at the city of Topeka, a 
certified transcript of the same, showing the number of votes cast 
for each person or object voted for at each of the several precincts 
in their respective counties, and in the counties attached for 
municipal purposes, separately. 

Sec. 20. The Governor of the Territory, and the President and 
Secretary of the convention shall constitute a board of State can¬ 
vassers, any two of whom shall be a quorum; and who shall, on 
the fourth Monday after each of the elections provided for in this 
schedule, assemble at said city of Topeka, and proceed to open 
and canvass the votes cast at the several precincts in the different 
counties of the Territory, and declare the result; and shall imme¬ 
diately issue certificates of election to all persons (if any) thus 
elected. 


APPENDIX. 


360 

Sec. 21. Said board of State canvassers shall issue their pro¬ 
clamation not less than twenty days next preceding each of the 
elections provided for in this schedule. Said proclamation shall 
contain an announcement of the several elections, the qualifica¬ 
tions of electors, the manner of conducting said elections and of 
making the returns thereof, as in this Constitution provided, and 
shall publish said proclamation in one newspaper in each of the 
counties of the Territory in which a newspaper may be then 
published. 

Sec. 22. The board of State canvassers shall provide for the 
transmission of authenticated copies of the Constitution to the 
President of the- United States, the president of the senate and 
speaker of the house of representatives. 

Sec. 23. Upon official information having been by him received 
of the admission of Kansas into the Union as a State, it shall be 
the duty of the Governor-elect under the Constitution, to proclaim 
the same, and to convene the legislature and do all things else 
necessary to the complete, and active organization of the State 
Government. 

Sec. 24. The first legislature shall have no power to make any 
changes in county lines. 

Sec. 25. At the election to be held for the ratification or rejec¬ 
tion of this Constitution, each elector shall be permitted to vote 
on the homestead provision contained in the article on “Miscellan¬ 
eous,” by depositing a ballot inscribed “For the Homestead,” or 
“Against the Homestead;” and if a majority of all the votes cast 
at said election shall be against said provision, then it shall be 

stricken from the Constitution. 

* 


RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved, That the congress of the United States is hereby 
requested, upon the application of Kansas for admission into the 
Union, to pass an act granting to the State forty-five hundred 
thousand acres of land to aid in the construction of railroads and 
other internal improvements. 

Resolved , That congress be further requested to pass an act 
appropriating fifty thousand acres of land for the improvement of 
the Kansas river from its mouth to Fort Riley. 

Resolved, That congress be further requested to pass an act 
granting all swamp lands within the State for the benefit of 
common schools. 

Resolved, That congress be further requested to pass an act 
appropriating five hundred thousand dollars, or in lieu thereof 


CONSTITUTION 


361 


five hundred thousand acres of land, for the payment of the claims 
awarded to citizens of Kansas by the claim commissioners appointed 
by the Governor and legislature of Kansas under an act of the 
Territorial legislature passed 7th of February, 1859. 

Resolved, That the legislature shall make provision for the sale 
or disposal of the lands granted to the State in aid of internal 
improvements and for other purposes, subject to the same rights 
of pre-emption to the settlers thereon as are now allowed by law 
to settlers on the public lands. 

Resolved, That it is the desire of the people of Kansas to be 
admitted into the Union with this Constitution. 

Resolved, That congress be further requested to assume the debt 
of this Territory. 

Done in convention at Wyandotte, this 29th day of July, A. D. , 1859. 


James M. Winchell, 

President and Member from Osage County. 


James M. Arthur, Linn Co. 
James Blood, Douglas Co. 

N. C. Blood, Douglas Co. 

James G. Blunt, Anderson Co. 

J. C. Burnett, Bourbon Co. 

John Taylor Burris, Johnson 
Co. 

Allen Crocker, Coffey Co. 

W. P. Dutton, Lykins Co. 

Robt. Graham, Atchison Co. 
John P. Greer, Shawnee Co. 

Wm. R. Griffith, Bourbon Co. 
James Hanway, Franklin Co. 
Saml. E. Hoffman, Woodson Co. 
S. D. Houston, Riley Co. 

Wm. Hutchinson, Douglas Co. 
John James Ingalls, Atchison 
Co. 


Samuel A. Kingman, Brown Co. 
Josiah Lamb, Linn Co. 

George H. Lillie, Madison Co. 
Caleb May, Atchison Co. 

Wm. McCullough, Morris Co. 

J. A. Middleton, Marshall Co. 
Luther R. Palmer, Pottawatomie 
Co. 

Robt. J. Porter, Doniphan Co. 

H. D. Preston, Shawnee Co. 
John Ritchie, Shawnee Co. 
Edmund G. Ross, Wabaunsee Co. 
James A. Signor, Allen Co. 
Benjamin F. Simpson, Lykins Co. 
Edwin Stokes, Douglas Co. 
Solon O. Thacher, Douglas Co. 
P. H. Townsend, Douglas Co. 

R. L. Williams, Douglas Co. 


Attest: JOHN A. MARTIN, Secretary. 


The following named delegates did not sign the Constitution: 


J. T. Barton, Johnson Co. 

Fred. Brown, Leavenworth Co 
J. W. Forman, Doniphan Co. 
Robt. Cole Foster, Leavenworth 
Co. 

Sam. Hipple, Leavenworth Co. 

E. M. Hubbard, Doniphan Co. 

C. B. McClelland, Jefferson Co. 
Wm. C. McDowell, Leavenworth 
Co. 


A. D. McCune, Leavenworth Co. 
E. Moore, Jackson Co. 

P. S. Parks, Leavenworth Co. 
Wm. Perry, Leavenworth Co. 
John P. Slough, Leavenworth Co. 
J. Stiarwalt, Doniphan Co. 

S. A. Stinson, Leavenworth Co. 

B. Wrigley, Doniphan Co. 

John Wright, Leavenworth Co. 

T. S. Wright, Nemaha Co. 




KANSAS GOVERNMENT 


Complete List of Territorial and State Officers from the 
Organization of the Territory of Kansas to Jan. 1, 1899. 


Kansas Territorial Officers— 1854 - 1861 . 


GOVERNORS. 

Andrew H. Reeder. Term, Oct. 7, 1854, to Aug. 16, 1855. Commissioned, 
June 29, 1854. 

Daniel Woodson. Term, Apr. 17 to June 23, 1855. Secretary and Acting 
Governor, Aug. 16 to Sept. 7,1855; June 24 to July 7,1856; Aug. 18 to Sept. 

9, 1856; Mar. 12 to Apr. 16, 1857. 

Wilson Shannon. Term, Sept. 7,1855, to Aug. 18, 1856. Commissioned, Aug. 

10, 1855. 

John White Geary. Term, Sept. 9,1856, to Mar. 12,1857. Confirmed, July 31, 
1856. 

Frederick P. Stanton. Term, Apr. 16 to May 27,1857. Secretary and Acting 
Governor, Nov. 16 to Dec. 21, 1857. 

Robert John Walker. Term, May 27 to Nov. 16, 1857. Commissioned, Mar. 
30, 1857. 

James W. Denver. Term, Dec. 21, 1857, to Oct. 10, 1858. Secretary and Act¬ 
ing Governor until May 12, 1858, when he was appointed Governor. 
Hugh Sleight Walsh. Term, July, 1858, and Oct. 10 to Dec. 17, 1858. 

Samuel Medary. Term, Dec. 18, 1858, to Dec. 17, 1860. Appointed Nov. 19, 
1858. 

George M. Beebe. Term, Dec. 17,1860, to Feb. 9,1861. Secretary and Acting 
Governor. 


SECRETARIES. 


Daniel Woodson. Term, June 29, 1854, to Apr. 16, 1857. Commissioned, 
June 29, 1854. 

Frederick P. Stanton. Term, Apr. 15 to Dec. 21,1857. Commissioned, Mar. 
31, 1857. 

James W. Denver. Term, Dec. 21,1857, to May 12,1858. Commissioned, Dec. 
11, 1857. 

Hugh Sleight Walsh. Term, May 12,1858, to July 1, 1860. 

George M. Beebe. Term, July 1,1860, to Feb. 9,1861. Appointed May 1,1860. 


AUDITORS. 


John Donaldson. Term, Aug. 30, 1855, to Feb. 20, 1857. 
Hiram Jackson Strickler. Term, Feb. 20,1857, to Feb., 1861. 


362 




KANSAS TERRITORIAL OFFICERS—1854-1861. 


o 

f > 



TREASURERS. 

Thomas J. B. Cramer. Term, Aug. 80, 1855, to Feb., 1859. 
Robert B. Mitchell. Term, Feb. 11, 1859, to Feb., 1861. 


SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS^ 

James H. Noteware. Term, Mar. 1 to Dec. 1, 1858. Appointed, Feb. 12, 1858. 
Samuel Wiley Greer. Term, Dec. 1,1858, to Jan. 2,1861. Elected, Oct. 4,1858. 
John C. Douglass. Term, Jan. 2 to Feb., 1861. Elected, Nov. 6, 1860. 


TERRITORIAL CHIEF JUSTICE. 


Samuel Dexter Lecompte. Term, Oct. 3, 1854, to Mar. 9,1859. 
John Pettit. Term, Mar. 9, 1859, to Feb., 1861. 


ASSOCIATE JUSTICES. 


Saunders W. Johnston. Term, June 29, 1854, to Sept. 13, 1855. 

J. M. Burrell. Term, Sept. 13,1855. Served but a few weeks, and returned 
home, dying in 1856. 

Thomas Cunningham. Term, Nov. 19, 1856, to June 3, 1857. 

Joseph Williams. Term, June 3, 1857, to Jan., 1861. 

Rush Elmore. Term, June 29, 1854, to Sept. 13, 1855. 

Sterling G. Cato. Term, Sept. 13, 1855, to July, 1858. 

Rush Elmore. Term, July, 1858, to Jan., 1861. 


State Officers of Kansas— 1861-1899. 


GOVERNORS. 

Charles Robinson. Residence, Law T rence. Elected, Dec. 6. 1859. Took 
oath of office, Feb. 9, 1861. 

Thomas Carney. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 4, 1862. 

Samuel J. Crawford. Residence, Garnett. Elected, Nov. 8, 1864. Twice 
elected. Resigned, Nov. 4, 1868, to take command 19th Reg. 

Nehemiah Green. Residence, Manhattan. Acting Governor. Elected, 
Lieut.-Gov., Nov. 6, 1866. 

Jas. M. Harvey. Residence, Fort Riley. Elected, Nov. 3,1868. Served two 
terms. 

Thomas A. Osborn. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 5, 1872. 
Served two terms. 

George T. Anthony. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 7, 1876. 

John P. St. John. Residence, Olathe. Elected, Nov. 5, 1878. Served two 
terms. 

George W. Glick. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 7, 1882. 

John A. Martin. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 4, 1884. Served two 
terms. 



APPENDIX 


364 


Lyman U. Humphrey. Residence, Independence. Elected, Nov. 6, 1888. 
Served two terms. 

Lorenzo D. Lewelling. Residence, Wichita. Elected, Nov. 8,1892. 

Edmund N. Morrill. Residence, Hiawatha. Elected, Nov. 6, 1894. 

John W. Leedy. Residence, Le Roy. Elected, Nov. 3, 1896. 

William E. Stanley. Residence, Wichita. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 


LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS. 


Joseph P. Root. Residence, Wyandotte. Elected, Dec. 6,1859. Took oath 
of office, Feb. 9, 1861. 

Thomas A. Osborn. Residence, Elwood. Elected, Nov. 4,1862. 

James McGrew. Residence, Wyandotte. Elected, Nov. 8, 1864. 

Nehemiah Green. Residence, Manhattan. Elected, Nov. 6, 1866. 

Charles V. Eskridge. Residence, Emporia. Elected, Nov. 3, 1868. 

Peter P. Elder. Residence, Ottawa. Elected, Nov. 8, 1870. 

Elias S. Stover. Residence, Council Grove. Elected, Nov. 5, 1872. 

Melville J. Salter. Residence, Thayer. Elected, Nov. 3, 1874. Twice 
elected. Resigned, July 19, 1877. 

Lyman U. Humphrey. Residence, Independence. Elected, Nov. 6, 1877. 
Elected, vice Salter, resigned. Re-elected, Nov. 5, 1878. 

D. W. Finney. Residence, Neosho Falls. Elected, Nov. 2, 1880. Served 
two terms. 

Alex. P. Riddle. Residence, Girard. Elected, Nov. 4, 1884. Served two 
terms. 

Andrew J. Felt. Residence, Seneca. Elected, Nov. 6, 1888. Served two 
terms. 

Percy Daniels. Residence, Girard. Elected, Nov. 8, 1892. 

James A. Troutman. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 6,1894. 

A. M. Harvey. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 3, 1896. 

H E. Richter. Residence, Council Grove. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 


SECRETARIES OF STATE. 


John Winter Robinson. Residence, Manhattan. Elected, Dec. 6, 1859. 
Took oath of office, 1861. Removed, July 28, 1862. 

Sanders Rufus Shepherd. Residence, Topeka. Appointed, vice Robinson, 
Aug., 1862. 

Wm. Wirt Henry Lawrence. Residence, Peoria City. Elected, Nov. 4, 
1862. 

Rinaldo Allen Barker. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 8,1864. Served 
two terms. 

Thomas Moonlight. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 3, 1868. 

Wm. Hillary Smallwood. Residence, Wathena. Elected, Nov. 8, 1870. 
Served two terms. 

Thos. H. Cavanaugh. Residence, Salina. Elected, Nov. 3, 1874. Served 
two terms. 

James Smith. Residence, Marysville. Elected, Nov. 5,1878. Served three 
terms. 

Edwin Bird Allen. Residence, Wichita. Elected, Nov. 4, 1884. Served two 
terms. 

William Higgins. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 6, 1888. Served two 
terms. 

Russel Scott Osborn. Residence, Stockton. Elected, Nov. 8, 1892. 

Wm. Congdon Edwards. Residence, Larned. Elected, Nov. 6. 1894. 

William Eben Bush. Residence, Mankato. Elected, Nov. 3, 1896. 

George Alfred Clark. Residence, Junction City. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 


STATE OFFICERS OF KANSAS—1861-1899. 


365 


AUDITORS. 

George Shaler Hillyer. Residence, Grasshopper Falls. Elected, Dec. 6, 
1859. Took oath of office, Feb., 1861. Removed, July 28, 1862. 

David Long Lakin. Residence, Grasshopper Falls. Appointed, vice 
Hillyer, Aug., 1862. 

Asa Hairgrove. Residence. Mound City. Elected, Nov. 4, 1862. 

John R. Swallow. Residence, Emporia. Elected, Nov. 8,1864. Served two 
terms. 

Alois Thoman. Residence, Lawrence. Elected, Nov. 3, 1868. Served 
two terms. 

Daniel Webster Wilder. Residence, Fort Scott. Elected, Nov. 5, 1872. 
Twice elected; resigned, Sept. 20, 1876. / 

Parkinson Isaiah Bonebrake. Residence, Topeka. Appointed, Oct. 2, 1876. 

Parkinson I. Bonebrake. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 7, 1876. Twice 
re-elected. 

Edward P. McCabe. Residence, Milbrook. Elected, Nov. 7, 1882. Served 
two terms. 

Timothy McCarthy. Residence, Earned. Elected, Nov. 2, 1886. Served 
two terms. 

Charles Merrill Hovey. Residence, Colby. Elected, Nov. 4, 1890. 

Van B. Prather. Residence, Columbus. Elected, Nov. 8, 1892. 

George Ezekiel Cole. Residence, Girard. Elected, Nov. 6, 1894. 

William H. Morris. Residence, Pittsburg. Elected, Nov. 3, 1896. 

George Ezekiel Cole. Residence, Pittsburg. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 


TREASURERS. 


William Tholen. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Dec. 6,1859. Entered 
army, and did not qualify. 

Horatio R. Dutton. Residence, Hiawatha. Appointed by Governor, Mar. 
26, 1861. 

Horatio R. Dutton. Residence, Hiawatha. Elected, Nov. 5, 1861. Elected 
for remainder of term. 

William Spriggs. Residence, Garnett. Elected, Nov. 4, 1862. Served two 
terms. 

Martin Anderson. Residence, Circleville. Elected, Nov. 6, 1866. 

George Graham. Residence, Seneca. Elected, Nov. 8, 1868. 

Josiah Emery Hayes. Residence, Olathe. Elected, Nov. 8, 1870. Twice 
elected. Resigned, April 30, 1874. 

John Francis. Residence, Iola. Appointed, vice Hayes, May 1, 1874. 

Samuel Lappin, Residence, Seneca. Elected, Nov. 3, 1874. Resigned, 
Dec. 20, 1875. 

John Francis. Residence, Iola. Appointed, vice Lappin, Dec. 21,1875. 

John Francis. Residence, Iola. Elected, Nov. 7. 1876. Elected and served 
three regular terms. 

Samuel T. Howe. Residence, Marion. Elected, Nov. 7, 1882. Served two 
terms. 

James Wm. Hamilton. Residence, Wellington. Elected, Nov. 2, 1886. 
Elected for two terms. Resigned, March 1,1890. 

William Sims. Residence, Topeka. Appointed, vice Hamilton, Mar. 1,1890, 
and served until Dec. 30, 1890. 

Solomon G. Stover. Residence, Belleville. Elected, Nov. 4,1890. Elected, 
vice Hamilton, and for next regular term. 

Wm. Henry Biddle. Residence, Augusta. Elected, Nov. 8, 1892. 

Otis L. Atherton. Residence, Russell. Elected, Nov. 6, 1894. 

David H. Heflebower. Residence, Bucyrus. Elected, Nov. 3, 1896. 

Frank E. Grimes. Residence, Leoti. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 




m 


APPENDIX. 


ATTORNEY-GENERALS. 

Benjamin Franklin Simpson. Residence, Paola. Elected, Dec. 6, 1859. 
Resigned, July, 1861. 

Charles Chadwick. Residence, Lawrence. Appointed, vice Simpson, 
July 30, 1861. 

Samuel A. Stinson. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 5, 1861. 
Warren Wm. Guthrie. Residence, Carson. Elected, Nov. 4, 1862. 

Jerome D. Brumbaugh. Residence, Marysville. Elected, Nov. 8, 1864. 
George Henry Hoyt. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 6, 1866. 
Addison Danford. Residence, Fort Scott. Elected, Nov. 3, 1868. 
Archibald L. Williams. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 8,1870. Served 
two terms. 

Asa M. F. Randolph. Residence, Burlington. Elected, Nov. 3,1874. 
Willard Davis. Residence, Oswego. Elected, Nov. 7, 1876. Served two 
t0 r m s 

William A. Johnston. Residence, Minneapolis. Elected, Nov. 2, 1880. 
Elected for two terms. Resigned, Dec. 1, 1884, to become Associate 
Justice. 

George P. Smith. Residence, Humboldt. Appointed, vice Johnston, 
resigned, Dec. 1, 1884. 

Simeon Briggs Bradford. Residence, Carbondale. Elected, Nov. 4, 1884. 
Served two terms. 

Toyman Beecher Kellogg. Residence, Emporia. Elected, Nov. 6, 1888. 
John Nutt Ives. Residence, Sterling. Elected, Nov. 4, 1890. 

John Thomas Little. Residence, Olathe. Elected, Nov. 8,1892. 

Fernando B. Dawes. Residence, Clay Center. Elected, Nov. 6, 1894. 

Louis C. Boyle. Residence, Fort Scott. Elected, Nov. 3, 1896. 

Aretas A. Godard. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 


SUPERINTENDENTS PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 


William Riley Griffith. Residence, Marmaton. Elected, Dec. 6,1859. Took 
oath of office, Feb., 1861. Died, Feb. 12, 1862. 

Simeon Montgomery Thorp. Residence, Lawrence. Appointed to fill 
vacancy. Mar. 28, 1862. 

Isaac T. Goodnow. Residence, Manhattan. Elected, Nov. 4, 1862. Served 
two terms. 

Peter McVicar. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 6, 1866. Served two 
terms. 

Hugh DeFrance McCarty. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 8,1870. 
Served two terms. 

John Fraser. Residence, Lawrence. Elected, Nov. 3, 1874. 

Allen Borsley Lemmon. Residence, Winfield. Elected, Nov. 7, 1876. 
Served two terms. 

Henry Clay Speer. Residence, Junction City. Elected, Nov. 2,1880. Served 
two terms. 

Joseph Hadden Lawhead. Residence, Fort Scott. Elected, Nov. 4, 1884. 
Served two terms. 

George Wesley Winans. Residence, Junction City. Elected, Nov. 6, 1888. 
Served two terms. 

Henry Newton Gaines. Residence, Salina. Elected, Nov. 8, 1892. 

Edmund Stanley. Residence, Lawrence. Elected, Nov. 6, 1894. 

William Stryker. Residence, Great Bend. Elected, Nov. 3, 1896. 

Prank Nelson. Residence, Lindsborg. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 


STATE OFFICERS OF KANSAS—1861-1899. 


367 


CHIEF JUSTICES. 

Thomas Ewing, Jr. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Dec. 6, 1859. Re¬ 
signed, Nov. 28, 1862. 

Nelson Cobb. Residence, Lawrence. Appointed, vice Ewing, Nov. 28,1862. 
Robert Crozier. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov.3,1863. 

Samuel Austin Kingman. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 6, 1866. 
Samuel Austin Kingman. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 5, 1872. 
Resigned, Dec. 30, 1876. 

Albert Howell Horton. Residence, Atchison. Appointed, vice Kingman, 
Dec. 31, 1876. 

Albert Howell Horton. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 6, 1877. 

Albert Howell Horton. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 5, 1878. 

Albert Howell Horton. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 4, 1884. 

A.lbert Howell Horton. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 4, 1890. 

Resigned. April 30, 1895. 

David Martin. Residence, Atchison. Appointed, vice Horton April 30,1895. 
David Martin. Residence, Atchison. Elected, Nov. 4, 1895. 

Frank Doster. Residence, Marion. Elected, Nov. 3,1896. 


ASSOCIATE JUSTICES. 


Samuel A Kingman. Residence, Hiawatha. Elected, Dec. 6,1859. 

Jacob Safford. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Nov. 8, 1864. 

David Josiah Brewer. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Nov. 8, 1870. 
David Josiah Brewer. Residence, Leavenworth. 

David Josiah Brewer. Residence, Leavenworth. 

Resigned, April 8, 1884. 

Theodore A. Hurd. Residence, Leavenworth. 

April 12, 1884. 

William A. Johnston. Residence, Minneapolis. Elected, Nov. 4, 1884. 
Elected, vice Brewer. Resigned office of Attorney-General of Kansas. 
Dec. 1, 1884, to become Associate Justice. 

William A. Johnston. Residence, Minneapolis. 

William A. Johnston. Residence, Minneapolis. 

Lawrence Dudley Bailey. Residence, Emporia. 

Residence, Emporia. 

Residence, Ottawa. 

Residence, Ottawa. 

Residence, Topeka. 

Residence, Topeka. 

Residence, Pleasanton. Elected, Nov. 8, 1892. 

Smith. Residence, Kansas City. Elected, Nov. 8, 1898. 


Lawrence Dudley Bailey. 
Daniel Milford Valentine. 
Daniel Milford Valentine. 
Daniel Milford Valentine. 
Daniel Milford Valentine. 
Stephen H. Allen. 
William Redwood 


Elected, Nov. 7, 1876. 
Elected, Nov. 7, 1882. 

Appointed, vice Brewer, 


Elected, Nov. 6, 1888. 
Elected, Nov. 6,1894. 
Elected, Dec. 6, 1859. 
Elected, Nov. 4, 1862. 
Elected, Nov. 3, 1868. 
Elected, Nov. 3, 1874. 
Elected, Nov. 2,1880. 
Elected, Nov. 2, 1886. 


UNITED STATES SENATORS. 


James H. Lane. Residence, Lawrence. Elected, Apr. 4, 1861. 

James H. Lane. Residence, Lawrence. Elected, Jan. 12, 1865. Died, July 
11, 1866. 

Edmund G. Ross. Residence, Lawrence. Appointed, vice Lane, July 20,1866. 

Edmund G. Ross. Residence, Lawrence. Elected, Jan. 23, 1867. Elected to 
fill vacancy, vice Lane. 

Alexander Caldwell. Residence, Leavenworth. Elected, Jan. 25, 1871. 
Resigned, Mar. 24, 1873. 

Robert Crozier. Residence, Leavenworth. Appointed, vice Caldwell, 
Nov. 22, 1873. 

James M. Harvey. Residence, Vinton. Elected Feb. 2. 1874. Elected, 
vice Caldwell. 


368 


APPENDIX. 


Elected, Jan. 31, 1877. 
Elected, Jan. 24, 1883. 
Elected, Jan. 23, 1889. Died 


Preston Bierce Plumb. Residence, Emporia. 

Preston Bierce Plumb. Residence, Emporia. 

Preston Bierce Plumb. Residence, Emporia. 

at Washington, Dec. 20, 1891. 

Bishop W. Perkins. Residence, Oswego. Appointed, vice Plumb, Jan. 1,1892. 
John Martin. Residence, Topeka. Elected, Jan. 25, 1893. Elected, vice 
Plumb. 

Lucien Baker. Residence, Leavenworth. 

Samuel C. Pomeroy. Residence, Atchison. 

Samuel C. Pomeroy. Residence, Atchison. 

Residence, Atchison. 

Residence, Atchison. 

Residence, Atchison. 


John James Ingalls. 
John James Ingalls. 
John James Ingalls. 


William Alfred Peffer. Residence, Topeka. 


William A. Harris. 


Residence, Linwood. 


Elected, Jan. 23, 1895. 
Elected, Apr. 4,1861. 
Elected, Jan. 23,1867. 
Elected, Jan. 29, 1873. 
Elected, Jan. 31, 1879. 
Elected, Jan. 28, 1885. 
Elected, Jan. 28, 1891. 
Elected, Jan. 27, 1897. 


KANSAS IN THE SPANISH WAR 


Complete Roster of the Officers of Kansas Regiments Commis¬ 
sioned for Service in the War with Spain. 


[Compiled from the records of the Adjutant-General, May 15, 1899.J 


General and Staff Officers, and Officers Who Held 
Commissions in Organizations Without the State. 


Joseph Kenneday Hudson, Topeka, Brigadier-General. 

Theodosius Botkin, Hutchinson, Captain and Assistant-Adjutant-General. 
J. W. Fogler, Leavenworth, Paymaster. 

W. F. de Neidman, Pittsburg, Major and Brigade Surgeon. 

A. W. Shockley, Leavenworth, Major and Surgeon, Seventh United States 
volunteers. 

Henry W. Parker, Leavenworth, First Lieutenant and Adjutant; secured 
commission outside of Kansas. 


Field Officers and Staff. 


TWENTIETH REGIMENT, KANSAS VOLUNTEERS—INFANTRY. 

Colonel Frederick Funston. Residence, Iola. Commissioned, Apr. 24, 

1898. Promoted Brigadier-General. 

Colonel Wilder 8. Metcalf. Residence, Lawrence. Commissioned, May 5, 

1899. Promoted from Major. 

Lieutentant-Colonel Edward C. Little. Residence, Abilene. Commis¬ 
sioned, Apr. 24, 1898. 

Major Frank H. Whitman. Residence, Orris Mills, N. Y., Commissioned, 
May 3, 1898. 

Major Wilder S. Metcalf. Residence, Lawrence. Commissioned, May 4, 
1898. Promoted to Colonel, vice Funston, promoted. 

Major William H. Bishop. Residence, Salina. Commissioned, May 5,1899. 

Promoted from Captain Company M, vice Metcalf, promoted. 

Surgeon John A. Rafter. Residence, Holton. Commissioned, May 3,1898. 

369 





370 


APPENDIX 


Assistant-Surgeon Henry D. Smith. Residence, Washington. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 2, 1898. 

Assistant-Surgeon Charles S. Hoffman. Residence, Columbus. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 8, 1898. 

Chaplain John G. Schlieman. Residence, Phillipsburg. Commissioned, 
May 6, 1898. 

Adjutant Charles B. Walker. Residence, Kansas City. Commissioned, 
Aug. 28, 1898. Appointed Adjutant, Aug. 28, 1898. 

Adjutant William A. DeFord. Residence, Ottawa. Commissioned, May 1, 
1898. Resigned, Aug. 24, 1898. 

Quartermaster Walter P. Hull. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, July 
9, 1898. Appointed Regimental Quartermaster, July 9, 1898. 

Quartermaster Lafayette C. Smith. Residence, Waconda. Commissioned, 
May 7, 1898. Honorably discharged, June 30, 1898. 

Captain Fred E. Buchan. Residence, Kansas City, Kan. Commissioned, 
Apr. 29. 1898. 

Captain Edmund Boltwood. Residence, Ottawa. Commissioned, Apr. 30, 
1898. 

Captain Adna G. Clark. Residence, Lawrence. Commissioned, May 3,1898. 

Captain Charles M. Christy. Residence, Waverly. Commissioned, May 4, 
1898. 

Captain George N. Watson. Residence, Abilene. Commissioned, May 5, 
1898. 

Captain William H. Bishop. Residence, Salina. Commissioned, May 6, 
1893. Promoted to Major, May 5, 1899. 

Captain William S. Albright. Residence, Leavenworth. Commissioned, 
May 7, 1898. 

Captain Henry B. Orwig. Residence, Girard. Commissioned, May 8, 1898. 

Captain Charles S. Flanders. Residence, Paola. Commissioned, May 10, 

1898. 

Captain Charles I. Martin. Residence, Fort Scott. Commissioned, May 
11, 1898. 

Captain Howard A. Scott. Residence, Independence. Commissioned, 
Nov. 12, 1898. Promoted from First Lieutenant, Nov. 12, 1898. 

Captain Edward L. Glasgow. Residence, Salina. Commissioned, Mar. 1, 

1899. Promoted from First Lieutenant. 

Captain W. J. Watson. Residence, Pittsburg. Commissioned, Mar. 20. 
1899. Promoted from First Lieutenant. 

Captain Daniel F. Craig. Residence, Garnett. Commissioned, May 5,1899. 
Promoted from First Lieutenant. 

Captain John E. Towers. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, May 2, 1898. 
Discharged, Nov. 12, 1898. 

Captain David S. Elliott. Residence, Coffeyville. Commissioned, May 
9,1898. Killed in battle at Manila, Feb. 27, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Charles B. Walker. Residence, Kansas City. Commis¬ 
sioned, Apr. 29, 1898. Appointed Adjutant, Aug. 28, 1898. 

First Lieutenant John F. Hall. Residence, Pleasanton. Commissioned, 
Apr. 30, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Frank J. Frank. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned 
May 2,1898. 

First Lieutenant Albert H. Krause. Residence. Lawrence. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Daniel F. Craig. Residence, Garnett. Commissioned, 
May 4, 1898. Promoted Captain, May 5, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Edgar A. Fry. Residence, Abilene. Commissioned, May 
5, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Edward L. Glasgow. Residence, Salina. Commissioned, 
May 6, 1898. Promoted Captain, Mar. 1, 1899. 

First Lieutenant William J. Watson. Residence, Pittsburg. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 8, 1898. Promoted Captain, Mar. 20, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Howard A. Scott. Residence, Independence. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 9,1898. Promoted Captain, Nov. 12, 1898. 


FIELD OFFICERS AND STAFF 


371 


First Lieutenant Walter P. Hull. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
May 10, 1898. Promoted Regimental Quartermaster, July 9, 1898. 

First Lieutenant William A. Green. Residence, Fort Scott. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 11, 1898. 

First Lieutenant E. H. Agnew. Residence, Minneapolis. Commissioned, 
July 1, 1898. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. 

First Lieutenant W. A. Callahan. Residence, Junction City. Commis¬ 
sioned, Nov. 12, 1898. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. 

First Lieutenant 1. B. Show^lter. Residence, Kansas City. Commis¬ 
sioned, Feb. 10, 1899. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. 

First Lieutenant John W. Hausserman. Residence, Leavenworth. Com¬ 
missioned, Mar. 1, 1899. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. 

First Lieutenant Harry W. Shidler. Residence, Fort Scott. Commis¬ 
sioned, Mar.20, 1899. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. 

First Lieutenant Clad Hamilton. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
May 10,1899. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. 

First Lieutenant Edward J. Hardy. Residence, Salina. Commissioned, 
May 5, 1899. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. 

First Lieutenant Harry H. Seckler. Residence, Leavenworth. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 7, 1898. Resigned to take effect May 8, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Alfred C. Alford. Residence, Lawrence. Commissioned, 
Aug. 25, 1898. Promoted from Second Lieutenant. Killed in action, 
Feb. 7, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Irvin B. Showalter. Residence, Kansas City. Com¬ 
missioned, Apr. 29, 1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, Feb. 10,1899. 

Second Lieutenant Robert S. Parker. Residence, Ottawa. Commissioned, 
Apr. 80, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Everett E. Huddleston. Residence, Topeka. Com¬ 
missioned, May 2, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Alfred C. Alford. Residence, Lawrence. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 3, 1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, Aug. 25, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant William A. Callahan. Residence, Leavenworth. Com¬ 
missioned, May 5, 1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, Nov. 12, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Ernest H. Agnew. Residence, Minneapolis. Commis-t 
sioned, May 6, 1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, July 1, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant John W. Hausserman. Residence, Leavenworth. 
Commissioned, May 7,1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, Mar. 1, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant William A. McTaggart. Residence, Independence. 
Commissioned, May 9, 1898. Killed in action, May 4, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Harry W. Shidler. Residence, Fort Scott. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 11, 1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, Mar. 20, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Clad Hamilton. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
July 1, 1898. Enrolled as First Sergeant, Apr. 29,1898. Promoted First 
Lieutenant, Apr. 18, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Collin H. Ball. Residence, Ottawa. Commissioned, 
Aug. 25, 1898. Enrolled as First Sergeant, May 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Edward J. Hardy. Residence, Salina. Commissioned, 
Aug. 25, 1898. Enrolled as First Sergeant, May 10, 1898. Promoted First 
Lieutenant, May 5, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Frederick R. Dodge. Residence, Leavenworth. Com¬ 
missioned, Sept. 21, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Orlando Burton. Residence, Fort Scott. Commis¬ 
sioned, Oct. 17. 1898. Enrolled as First Sergeant, May 12, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant S. G. Hopkins. Residence, Leavenworth. Commis¬ 
sioned, Nov. 12, 1898. Enrolled as First Sergeant, May 13,1898. 

Second Lieutenant J. B. Wisner. Residence, Kansas City. Commissioned, 
Feb. 10, 1899. Enrolled as First Sergeant, May 13, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Ernest G. Simpson. Residence, Beloit. Commis¬ 
sioned, Mar. 1, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Burton J. Mitchell. Residence, Iola. Commissioned, 
Mar. 20, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Aaron B. Conley. Residence, Fort Scott. Commis¬ 
sioned, Apr. 18, 1899. 


372 


APPENDIX 


Second Lieutenant Cassius E. Wanier. Residence, Fort Scott. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 5,1899. 

Second Lieutenant John C. Murphy. Residence, Leavenworth. Commis¬ 
sioned May 5, 1899. Appointed, vice W. A. McTaggart, killed in action. 

Second Lieutenant Phillip S. Ray. Residence, Yates Center. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 4, 1898. Resigned, Aug. 27, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Thomas K. Richey. Residence, Pittsburg. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 8, 1898. Resigned, Oct. 18, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant A. W. Flanders. Residence, Osawatomie. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 10, 1898. Resigned, Sept. 23, 1898. 


Field Officers and Staff. 

TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT, KANSAS VOLUNTEERS—INFANTRY. 


Colonel Thomas G. Fitch. Residence, Wichita. Commissioned, May 11, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Charles McCrum. Residence, Garnett. Commis¬ 
sioned, Apr. 25, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Major Harry A. Smith. Residence, Atchison. Commissioned, Apr. 20, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov, 10, 1898. 

Major Willis L. Brown. Residence, Kingman. Commissioned, Apr. 27, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10,1898. 

First Lieutenant and Adjutant John B. Nicholson. Residence, Council 
Grove. Commissioned, May 13, 1898. Resigned, June 1, 1898. 

First Lieutenant and Adjutant Henry W. Parker. Residence, Leaven¬ 
worth. Commissioned, May 26, 1898. Promoted from Sergeant Major, 
vice Nicholson, resigned. Resigned, Oct. 22, 1898. 

First Lieutenant and Adjutant William W. McCarty. Residence, Winfield. 
Oct. 24, 1898. Promoted from First Lieutenant, Company F, vice 
Parker. Mustered out, Nov. 10,1898. 

First Lieutenant and Quartermaster John C. Little. Residence, Columbus. 
Commissioned, May 7, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Major and Surgeon Frank C. Armstrong. Residence, El Dorado. Com¬ 
missioned, May 2, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Captain and Assistant-Surgeon Thomas C. Biddle. Residence, Emporia. 
Commissioned, May 14, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Captain and Assistant-Surgeon Frederick W. Turner. Residence, Marys¬ 
ville. Commissioned, May 14, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Chaplain William E. Woodward. Residence, Larned. Commissioned, May 
10, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY A. 


Captain Dell J. Newton. Residence, Great Bend. Commissioned, May 12, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10,1898. 

First Lieutenant Isaac L. Magee. Residence, Sterling. Commissioned, 
May 12, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Archibald F. Watson. Residence, La Crosse. Com¬ 
missioned, May 12, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 



FIELD OFFICERS AND STAFF 


373 


COMPANY B. 


Captain Arthur D. Smith. Residence, Larned. Commissioned, May 6, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10,1898. 

First Lieutenant Howard M. Koontz. Residence, Garden City. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 6, 1898. Appointed Regimental Ordnance Officer, May 28, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Charles W. Herzer. Residence Dodge City. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 6,1898. Died of typhoid fever, Aug. 3,1898. 

Second Lieutenant Jonathan G. Farguson. Residence, Garden City. Ap¬ 
pointed Second Lieutenant, Aug. 4, 1898. Vice C. W. Herzer, deceased. 
Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY C. 


Captain Vernon L. Everett. Residence, Wichita. Commissioned, May 10, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Harry Hume. Residence, Clearwater. Commissioned, 
May 10, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant William H. Bell. Residence, Scranton. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 10, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY D. 


Captain Rufus T. Vaughan. Residence, Mankato. Commissioned, May 7, 
1898. Resigned, July 22,1898. 

Captain Charles C. Calkin. Residence, Smith Center. Commissioned, July 
22, 1898. Appointed Captain, July 22, 1898, vice R. T. Vaughan, resigned. 
Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Charles C. Calkin. Residence, Smith Center. Commis- 
missioned. May 7, 1898. Promoted Captain, July 22, 1898. 

First Lieutenant George H. Tucker. Residence, Phillipsburg. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 22, 1898. Originally mustered in as Second Lieutenant. 
Appointed First Lieutenant, July 22, 1898, vice C. C. Calkin. Mustered 
out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant George H. Tucker. Residence, Phillipsburg. Com¬ 
missioned, May 7, 1898. Commissioned First Lieutenant, July 22, 1898, 
vice C. C. Calkin appointed Captain. 

Second Lieutenant Alvin W. Miller. Residence, Jewell City. Enrolled as 
First Sergeant. Promoted Second Lieutenant, vice Tucker, promoted. 


COMPANY E. 

Captain Dorr Thomas. Residence, Hutchinson. Commissioned, May 8, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898.) 

First Lieutenant James U. Brown. Residence, Tribune. Commissioned, 
May 8, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Charles S. Gibbens. Residence, Nickerson. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 8, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY F. 

Captain Charles W. Van Way. Residence, Winfield. Commissioned, May 
3, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Fred O. Shutts. Residence, Winfield. Commissioned, 
May 3, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


374 


APPENDIX 


Second Lieutenant William W. McCarty. Residence, Winfield. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 3,1898. Appointed First Lieutenant and Adjutant, Oct. 24, 
1898. 

Second Lieutenant Frank W. Reed. Residence, Winfield. Commissioned, 
Oct. 24, 1898. Promoted from First Sergeant, Company F. Appointed 
Second Lieutenant, Oct. 24, 1898, vice McCarty, promoted. 


COMPANY G. 


Captain Charles Stackhouse. Residence, Osage City. Commissioned, May 
9, 1898. Resigned, July 8, 1898. 

Captain Thomas R. Hayson. Residence, Burlingame. Commissioned, 
July y, 1898. Originally mustered in as First Lieutenant. Appointed 
Captain, July 9, 1898, vice Stackhouse, resigned. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 
1898. 

First Lieutenant Thomas R. Hayson. Residence, Burlingame. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 9, 1898. Appointed Captain, July 9, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Frank B. Niles. Residence, Lyndon. Commissioned, 
July 9, 1898. Appointed First Lieutenant, July 9, 1898, vice Hayson, 
promoted. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Hugo Brandt. Residence, Alma. Commissioned, May 
9,1898. Resigned, July 13, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant William Lavey. Residence, Burlingame. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 14, 1898. Appointed Second Lieutenant, July 14, 1898, vice 
Hugo Brandt, resigned. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY H. 


Captain Walter H. Douglass. Residence, El Dorado. Commissioned, 
May 4, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Earl M. Douglass. Residence, El Dorado. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 4, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant John M. Shook. Residence, Eureka. Commissioned, 
May 4,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY I. 


Captain Roy G. Marr. Residence, Russell. Commissioned, May 11, 1898. 
Mustered out, Nov. 10,1898. 

First Lieutenant George A. Lester. Residence, Hays City. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 11,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Charles W. Hamilton. Residence, Ellsworth. Com¬ 
missioned, May 11, 1898. Resigned, July 13,1898. 

Second Lieutenant Arthur L. Boyd. Residence, Russell. Commissioned, 
July 14, 1898. Promoted Second Lieutenant, July 14,1898, vice Hamilton, 
resigned. 


COMPANY K. 


Captain Blinn E. Snow. Residence, Stafford. Commissioned, May 5,1898. 
Resigned, June 8, 1898. 

Captain Ezra E. Beard. Residence, Wichita. Commissioned, May 26, 1898. 
Appointed Captain, May 26, 1898, vice Snow, resigned. Mustered out, 
Nov. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Ezra E. Beard. Residence, Wichita. Commissioned, 
May 5,1898. Commissioned Captain, May 26,1898. 


FIELD OFFICERS AND STAFF. 


375 


Eirst Lieutenant Walter M. Ellis. Residence, Kingman. Commissioned, 
May 26, 1898. Originally mustered in as Second Lieutenant. Appointed 
First Lieutenant, May 26, 1898, vice Beard, promoted. Mustered out, 
Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Walter M. Ellis. Residence, Kingman. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 6, 1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, May 26, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Clarence L. Barron. Residence, Kingman. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 26,1898. Appointed Second Lieutenant, vice Ellis, pro¬ 
moted. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY L,. 

Captain John P. Grinstead. Residence, Wellington. Commissioned, May 
2, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Robert L. Collins. Residence, Oxford. Commissioned, 
May 2, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Emera E. Wilson. Residence, Belle Plaine. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 2, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


COMPANY M. 

Captain William Constant. Residence, Marion. Commissicwied, May 13, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Lillian C. Criner. Residence, McPherson. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 13, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant J. Marshall Lemar. Residence, McPherson. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 13, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 10, 1898. 


Field Officers and Staff. 


TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT, KANSAS VOLUNTEERS- 

INFANTRY. 

Colonel Henry C. Lindsey. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, Apr. 26, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Lieutenant-Colonel James Graham. Residence, St. Marys. Commissioned, 
April 26, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Major Alexander M. Harvey. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, May 6, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Major Charles Dcster. Residence Topeka. Commissioned, May 7, 1898. 
Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Adjutant Clay Allen. Residence, Erie. Commissioned, Apr. 27, 1898. 
Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Quartermaster Henry A. Lamb. Residence, Parsons. Commissioned, 
May 8, 1898. Died, Aug. 28, 1898, Providence Hospital, Washington, D. C. 
Quartermaster Charley Lindsey. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
Aug. 30, 1898. Enrolled as Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, May 17, 
1898. Appointed Quartermaster, Aug. 26. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 
Surgeon Josephus P. Stewart. Residence, Clay Center. Commissioned, 
May 16, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

W. F. de Neidman. Residence, Pittsburg. Commissioned, May 17, 1898. 
Mustered out to accept commission as Major and Brigade Surgeon, 
July 15, 1898. 



376 


APPENDIX 


Assistant-Surgeon Lewis C. Duncan. Residence, Meriden. Commissioned, 
May 16, 1898. Promoted First Assistant-Surgeon, May 16, 1898. 

Assistant-Surgeon Frank H. Martin. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
July 10, 1898. Enrolled as Hospital Steward, May 17, 1898. Promoted 
Assistant-Surgeon, July 10,1898, vice de Neidman, promoted. Mustered 
out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Chaplain Valedo H. Biddison. Residence, St. Marys. Commissioned, 
Apr. 27. 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 


COMPANY A. 

Captain Charles R. Hazzard. Residence, Parsons. Commissioned, May 
2, 1898. Mustered out, November 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Joseph K. Knight. Residence, Shaw. Commissioned, 
May 2, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Logan H. Wells. Residence, Erie. Commissioned, 
May 2,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 


COMPANY B. 

Captain William H. Parsons. Residence, Clifton. Commissioned, May 3, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant William B. Cranmer. Residence,'Clyde. Commissioned, 
May 3, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Owen V. Smith. Residence, Clyde. Commissioned, 
May 3, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 


COMPANY C. 

Captain Firth Charlesworth. Residence, Beloit. Commissioned, May 4, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant George D. Abel. Residence, Lincoln. Commissioned, 
May 4, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Arthur J. Cadden. Residence, Beloit. Commissioned, 
May 4,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 


COMPANY D. 

Captain Charles A. Phillips. Residence, Holton. Commissioned, May 5, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Arthur B. Schaeffer. Residence, Valley Falls. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 5, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Walter M. French. Residence, Winchester. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 5,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 


COMPANY E. 

Captain John C. McGinley. Residence, Emporia. Commissioned, May 6, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant William S. Weaver. Residence, Emporia. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 6,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 

Second Lieutenant Carlos A. Jillson. Residence, Emporia. Commissioned, 
May 6,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 


COMPANY F. 

Captain John W. Farrell. Residence, Weir City. Commissioned, May 7, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Alfred F. Williams. Residence, Columbus. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 7,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 

Second Lieutenant Alva C. Starr. Residence, Weir City. Commissioned, 
May 7,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 



FIELD OFFICERS AND STAFF 


377 


COMPANY G. 

Captain Clyde B. Parker. Residence, Oberlin. Commissioned, May 8, 
1898. Mustered out. Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Mark B. Thompson. Residence, Norton. Commissioned, 
May 8,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 

Second Lieutenant Irving M. Egan. Residence, St. Francis. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 8,1898. Mustered out, Nov, 3,1898. 


COMPANY H. 

Captain William C. Stevenson. Residence, Emporia. Commissioned, 
May 9, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Henry M. Thomas. Residence, Melvern. Commissioned, 
May 9,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 

Second Lieutenant George H. Rising. Residence, Salina. Commissioned. 
May 9,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 


COMPANY I. 


Captain George E. Ross. Residence, Washington. Commissioned, May 
10,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3. 1898. 

First Lieutenant Guy W. Morgan. Residence, Clay Center. Commissioned, 
May 10,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Rutherford B. Evans. Residence, Clifton. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 10, 1898. Dismissed from the service, Aug. 31,1898. 

Second Lieutenant Burt C. Carter. Residence, Clay Center. Commis¬ 
sioned, Aug. 10, 1898. Appointed Second Lieutenant, vice Evans, dis¬ 
missed. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 


COMPANY K. 


Captain William D. Sherman. Residence, Seneca. Commissioned, May 
11, 1898. Died, Aug. 9,1898, of typhoid fever. 

Captain Louis Miller. Residence, Sabetha. Commissioned, Adg. 10,1898. 
Appointed Captain, vice Sherman, deceased. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 
1898. 

First Lieutenant Louis Miller. Residence, Sabetha. Commissioned, May 
11, 1898. Promoted Captain, Aug. 10, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Elliott A. Davis. Residence, Hiawatha. Commissioned, 
Aug. 10,1898. Appointed First Lieutenant, vice Miller, promoted. Mus¬ 
tered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Elliott A. Davis. Residence, Hiawatha. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 11, 1898. Promoted First Lieutenant, Aug. 10, 1898, vice 
Miller, promoted. 

Second Lieutenant Roy J. Martin. Residence, Seneca. Commissioned, 
Aug. 10,1898. Enrolled as First Sergeant, May 16,1898. Promoted Sec¬ 
ond Lieutenant, Aug. 10,1898. 


COMPANY L. 

Captain Emmett P. Green. Residence, Atchison. Commissioned, May 13, 
1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

First Lieutenant Fred W. Bailey. Residence, Atchison. Commissioned, 
May 13, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant Vine V. Read. Residence, Atchison. Commissioned. 
May 13, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3, 1898. 


378 


APPENDIX 


COMPANY M. 

Captain William B. Leicester. Residence, Manhattan. Commissioned, 
May 13, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 

First Lieutenant George N. Crawford. Residence, Manhattan. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 13, 1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 

Second Lieutenant Thaddeus H. White. Residence, Manhattan. Commis¬ 
sioned, May 13,1898. Mustered out, Nov. 3,1898. 


Field Officers and Staff. 

TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT, KANSAS VOLUNTEERS— 
INFANTRY (COLORED). 

Lieutenant-Colonel James Beck, Sr. Residence, Manhattan. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 14, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Major James Beck, Sr. Residence, Manhattan. Commissioned, June 27, 
1898. Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, July 14, 1898. 

Major John M. Brown. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, July 15, 1898. 
Mustered out. Mar. 10, 1899. 

Major George W. Ford. Residence, Fort Scott. Commissioned, July 15, 
1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Assistant-Surgeon Charles S. Sunday. Residence, Topeka. Commis¬ 
sioned, June 27, 1898. Resigned, Dec. 24, 1898. 

Assistant-Surgeon Frederick D. G. Harvey. Residence, Argentine. Com¬ 
missioned, June 28, 1898. Honorably discharged, Dec. 24, 1898. 

Second Lieutenant and Adjutant Samuel T. Jones. Residence, Kansas 
City. Commissioned, July 5, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant and Acting Quartermaster Frederick M. Stone. Resi¬ 
dence, Lawrence. Commissioned, July 4, 1898. Mustered out. Mar. 
10, 1899. 

COMPANY A. 

Captain William Reynolds. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, July 2, 
1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Thomas McAdoo. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
July 2, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Henry Taylor. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
July 2, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. Commissioned First Lieu¬ 
tenant, but not mustered. 


COMPANY B. 

Captain Sherman A. Harvey. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, July 
4, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant John W. Clark. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
July 4, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Frederick M. Stone. Residence, Topeka. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 4,1898. Mustered out. Mar. 10,1899. 


COMPANY C. 

Captain John L. Waller. Residence, Kansas City, Kan. Commissioned, 
July 5,1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Thomas E. Moody. Residence, Quindaro. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 5, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10,1899. 

Second Lieutenant Samuel T. Johnes. Residence, Kansas City. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 5, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 



FIELD OFFICERS AND STAFF 


379 


COMPANY D. 

Captain Archibald M. Wilson. Residence, Fort Scott. Commissioned, 
July 9, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Jerry M. White. Residence, Girard. Commissioned, 
July 9, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Alfred M. Booker. Residence, Fmporia. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 9, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 


COMPANY E. 

Captain Samuel W. Jones. Residence, Wichita. Commissioned, July 14, 
1898.. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant William A. Bettis. Residence, Wichita. Commissioned, 
July 14, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant William Green. Residence, Wichita. Commissioned, 
July 14, 1898. Mustered out. Mar. 10, 1899. 


COMPANY F. 


Captain William B. Roberts. Residence, Parsons. Commissioned, July 
15, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Levi Holt. Residence, Coffeyville. Commissioned, July 
15, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant John D. Harkless. Residence, Parsons. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 15, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 


COMPANY G. 


Captain William H. Ingram. Residence, Kansas City. Commissioned, 
July 16, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Allen Lattimore. Residence, Kansas City. Commis¬ 
sioned, July 16, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Nathaniel Singletary. Residence, Kansas City. Com¬ 
missioned, July 16, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10,1899. 


COMPANY H. 


Captain William M. Hawkins. Residence, Atchison. Commissioned, July 
17, 1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

First Lieutenant Arthur K. Barnett. Residence, Topeka. Commissioned, 
July 17,1898. Died, Jan. 23, 1899, at San Luis de Cuba. 

Second Lieutenant George E. Payne. Residence, Topeka. Commis¬ 
sioned, Nov. 29, 1898. Enrolled as First Sergeant, Company F, Nov., 
1898. Mustered out, Mar. 10, 1899. 

Second Lieutenant Arthur Lett. Residence, Atchison. Commissioned, 
July 17,1898. Resigned, Dec. 15, 1898. 


XJnassigned. 

James King, Second Lieutenant, Company A. Residence, Topeka. Com¬ 
missioned, Mar. 22, 1899, but not mustered. 

Oscar Over, Second Lieutenant, Company —. Residence, Topeka. Com¬ 
missioned, Mar. 22, 1899, but not mustered. Not assigned to Company. 

























































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